THREE MONTHS 



IN 



GREAT BRITAIN 



BY 



JAMES MOTT. 



PHILADELPHIA; 

J. Miller M'Kim, No. 31 North Fifth STRi^kr. 

1841. 



^6 



4 |< J r f 



MERRIHEW AND THOMPSON, TRINTERS, 

No. 7 Carter's Alley, 



; (7 



LETTER, &c. 



Dear Feiend, — = 

A wish having been expressed by thyself and 
several other persons, to have some account of a visit 
my wife and self made to England in the summer of 
1840, I shall attempt to give a brief statement of 
some of the incidents of our voyage and travel; but 
not possessing the power of description, I do not 
suppose that it will be very instructive, or contain 
much that will be new or interesting. 

We sailed from New York on the 7th of Fifth 
month, in the packet ship Roscoe, Captain Huttle- 
ston, in company with several others, who, with our- 
selves, purposed being at the Anti-Slavery Convention 
to be held in London in the Sixth month. There w^ere 
thirty-two cabin passengers, some of them residents 
of the island of Jamaica, with whom the subject of 
slavery, and the results of emancipation in the West 
Indies, were discussed. And, although they were 
opposed to the act of emancipation, yet from their 
own admissions it was evident that all classes were 
benefited by the change, and w^ould be still more so, 
as the former claimant of property in his fellow-man 
was willing to recognise in those he had held in 
slavery, the full enjoyment of their freedom. 



• . ♦ ^ \ •; * 



Our voyage was a rough one, of twenty days ; 
most of the passengers were more or less sea sick, 
some of them very much so. I escaped entirely, and 
enjoyed the novelty of the scene, viewing the wide 
expanse of the ocean, and watching the rolling and 
pitching of our fine ship as she ascended and de- 
scended the mountain waves. On the third day out 
we encountered a gale from the east, which obliged 
the ship to lay to about sixteen hours. The wind 
blew with violence and the surface of the ocean was 
greatly agitated. I remained on deck most of the 
day ; occasionally going to the cabin to see how the 
sick were doing. Any description will give but a 
faint idea of the reality of a storm at sea. To enjoy 
its grandeur it must be seen ; and I am almost ready 
to wish that every person who crosses the Atlantic 
may have an opportunity of witnessing the sublimity 
of the foaming ocean lashed by the fury of the wind. 
Our skilful captain, by his uniform attention to the 
wants and feelings of those on board, gained their 
esteem ; and our estimable fellow passenger, Isaac 
Winslow, extended every kindness to the sick of our 
company. The sea was so rough, and many so sick, 
that only one religious meeting was held during the 
voyage, which was attended by all the cabin pas- 
sengers. 

We arrived at Liverpool on the evening of the 26th 
inst., and landed next morning on the quay of Prince's 
dock, which is the largest of those artificial haibors ; 
it is capable of containing one hundred ships. The 
tide rises about sixteen feet, which would make it 



difficult to load and unload as they do at our wharves. 
The town resembles New York in the irregularity of 
its streets. The buildings are from three to seven 
stories high, and have a dark, dingy appearance, the 
color of the bricks being dirty yellow. Liverpool is 
the great market from which the large manufacturers 
are supplied with the slave-grown cotton of the 
United States. Thus while the people of Great Bri- 
tain, at a cost of twenty millions sterling, have abo- 
lished slavery in their colonies, they purchase annual- 
ly from twelve to fifteen millions of the slave-stained 
cotton of this country. With one hand they pay for 
the liberation of their own slaves, with the other give 
direct encouragement and support to slavery in our 
land. A few seem sensible of their inconsistency 
herein, and are endeavoring to arouse the nation to 
seek a supply from some other source. This supply, 
it is asserted, can readily be procured from the Bri- 
tish East India possessions, if the Company having 
the government of that extended country would en- 
courage its cultivation. 

We spent one day in Liverpool ; delivered letters 
of introduction ; and accepted an invitation to William 
Rathbone's, where we passed an evening in most 
agreeable conversation with his intelligent family. 
Edward Wilson, whom we had formerly known in 
this country, kindly invited us to his house, but our 
stay was too short to admit of our going there. On 
the 2Sth, we left for London, passing through Ches- 
ter, Manchester, Birmingham, Warwick, Stratford, 

J* 



Woodstock, Oxford, and Windsor, stopping to visit 
such places as were of interest or curiosity. 

At Manchester, on First day morning, we attended 
Friends' meeting, which is said to be one of the largest 
in the kingdom; about four hundred and fifty persons 
were present ; only one minister, a woman, belong- 
ing to the meeting, and she was absent on a religious 
visit in Ireland. 

In the afternoon we concluded to visit the Evan- 
gelical Friends ; found several of their number teach- 
ing a " Sabbath School," of nearly two hundred chil- 
dren, in the basement of the house, which is built 
after the manner of Friends, though more ornament- 
ed ; maple benches with green cushions and foot- 
stools ; and aisles carpeted with coarse India matting, 
as was the case in most of the meeting houses v/e 
saw. The children were instructed in the import- 
ance of baptism, the supper, and the orthodox faith ; 
a hymn was sung by the children at the close of the 
school, and a prayer offered by John H. Cockbain. 
The meeting not being held till evening, J. H. C. 
gave us an invitation to tea, which we accepted, after 
informing him who we were, and had much conversa- 
tion on our respective views on the subject of reli- 
gion. The openness and charitable feeling evinced 
impressed us favorably. 

At the meeting, Isaac Crewdson, with two others, 
occupied the gallery, or pulpit, which would accom- 
modate six persons. Women are excluded from its 
occupancy, and from the ministry. About one hun- 
dred and fifty persons were present ; after a short si- 



lence, a prayer was offered ; there was then another 
silence, followed by the reading of a hymn; they 
probably have not yet learned the art of singing ,* a 
third silence, and a chapter in the Bible was read, 
and a discourse upon it by I. Crewdson ; then another 
prayer, and the congregation was dismissed by a 
benediction. I. C. kindly invited us to go home 
and sup with him ; we reluctantly declined on ac- 
count of the distance and lateness of the hour. 
They took us into their library, and gave us some 
books explanatory of iheir tenets, and afterwards 
sent us more. We respected their zeal and sin- 
cerity, while we mourned their departure from 
the simplicity of the faith of the Society of Friends. 
They number about two hundred members, near- 
ly half of whom withdrew from the meeting of 
Friends in Manchester, and probably most, or all 
were in the practice of assembling with them on First 
days. 

They contribute to the support of a domestic mis- 
sion, or ministry for the poor. In reference to this 
subject, J. H. Cockbain, in a note, says, 

« When we were conversing on the subject of paying mi- 
nisters, I mentioned that we had in Manchester between thirty 
and forty paid agents, as home missionaries. The agents are 
men of known piety, and well qualified by their knowledge 
of Scripture. To such ministers I not only believe it right 
that a maintenance should be afforded, but I believe it to be 
the bounden duty of every believer in Jesus Christ to contri- 
bute either by his personal efforts, or by the appropriation of 
part of his income, to the support of those who are willing to 
employ their time and talents in so doing — to endeavor to 



s 

make known to their fellow-men the glad tidings of free sal- 
vation to every penitent believer. The average salary is sixty 
pounds per annum, and their whole time is occupied. The 
work has been greatly owned, by the divine blessing, in nu- 
merous instances. I should like to know the points on which 
you think we do not see alike ; truth never did, and never 
will suffer from calm investigation, and we may learn some- 
thing from each other." 

In one of the pamphlets handed us by Isaac 
Crewdson, entitled " A brief account of Evangelical 
Friendsj" the causes which led to their separation 
are thus stated :— , 

" The first cause we believe to have been the more frequent 
and attentive reading of the Holy Scriptures, by which many 
were established in the conviction that they are of supreme 
authority in all matters of doctrine." 

"The division of the Society of Friends in America, and 
the fearful errors which resulted from the carrying out of the 
principle that the Scriptures are not the first rule of faith and 
practice, showed still more plainly the importance of a diligent 
study of the Bible, both to obtain a knowledge of the truth, 
and to furnish the young with those principles which might 
guard them against the evils of the world, and the snares of 
Satan." 

" With these views a class was formed by Wm. Boulton, an 
elder in the Society of Friends, at Manchester, for the social 
reading and study of the Scriptures, in the year 1833 ; and a 
second class, by other members, in 1834." 

« Soon after the establishment of the first class, the yearly 
meeting of Friends in London, held in 1834, was informed, by 
answers to the queries, that disunity existed in the meeting of 
the ministers and elders, of which Wm. Boulton was a mem- 
ber." 

" Early in the year 1835, Isaac Crewdson, a minister in the 
same meeting, published the ' Beacon to the Society of Friends,' 
in order to show the deadly nature .of the errors of Elias Hicks. 



9 



the leader of the heresy amongst the Quakers in America,* 
and to warn the Society in this country against those false 
doctrines." 

" On the appearance of this book, the disunity was so much 
increased, that the yearly meeting, in 1835, appointed a com- 
mittee to visit the county of Lancaster, who advised the author 
to prevent its further circulation." " Their general proceedings 
proved that their inquiry was — Who had the views of the early 
Friends ] rather than — Who held the doctrines of the Lord 
and his apostles'?" 

" When the author of the Beacon did not suppress the work, 
the committee complained of his want of condescension, and 
advised him to suspend his labors as a minister of the gospel, 
and dealt with him on his non-submission to their advice." 

In consequence of the proceedings of the yearljr 
meeting's committee, and the monthly meeting, fort}^- 
nine persons sent their resignations of membership 
to the monthly meetings, held in the Eleventh and 
Twelfth m_onths, 1836. 

" Many of those who resigned their membership expressed 
disunity with the Society of Friends, on the doctrine of uni- 
versal, inward, saving light ; — with the defective views of the 
Society on the doctrine of justification by faith ; — and on their 
not admitting the paramount authority of the Holy Scrip- 
tures." 

These persons, with some others associated in re- 
ligions communion, erected a meeting house which 
they call a chapel. In the deed conveying the pro- 
perty to trustees, their doctrines are thus set forth : 

" That the Scriptures were given by divine inspiration, and 

* In a proper sense it would have been more correct to have 
said, " The defender of the faith preached by George Fox and 
his cotemporaries, and abundantly set forth in the Scrip- 
tures." 



10 

are the revelation of the will of God to man, in all things ne- 
cessary to his eternal happiness ; that they are the rule of faith 
and practice ; and nothing which is not found therein is to 
be regarded as an article of faith, or as requisite to salvation. 

" That God is revealed through the Holy Scriptures in the 
character of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. 

« That in the Holy Scriptures we are taught that man fell 
by sin from the state of holiness in which he was created ; that 
his posterity are born in the same fallen condition ; and thus, 
being by nature prone to evil, and at enmity against God, all 
the world is guilty before him. 

" That all mankind are to be invited to accept the salvation 
which is freely offered in the Gospel of Christ. 

" That the Son of God, by whom the worlds were created, 
and by whom all things consist, was made flesh, and died upon 
the cross, — that through his perfect righteousness, and atoning 
sacrifice, all who repent and believe in Him are delivered from 
condemnation ; and being justified by faith, are made heirs of 
eternal life, and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost as the ear- 
nest of their inheritance. 

" That being thus made alive unto God by a new creation 
in Christ Jesus unto good works, the believer delights in the 
holy law of God, takes the precepts of the gospel as his rule of 
duty, and seeks to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our 
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." 

The ordinances of baptism and the supper are ob- 
served by the Evangelical Friends ; Isaac Crewd- 
son and Wm. Boulton hold the offices of " Bishops, 
Elders, or Pastors," in conformity with what they 
regard as the appointment of the Great Head of the 
Church. Four other persons are appointed deacons. 
As these are all the officers they find in the New 
Testament, as recognized in the church of that day, 
they have no others. 

Had the above mentioned rites, and the titles to 
their officers been omitted, and the inward light 



11 

placed on an equality with the authority of the Scrip- 
tures, I see nothing in their confession of faith as 
contained in their deed, that might not and would not 
be subscribed to by many in England who call them- 
selves Friends. Both Societies disclaim religious 
fellowship with Friends of our connexion, and repu- 
diate the doctrine that simple and unreserved obedi- 
ence to the guidance of the inward light will lead to 
happiness in this life, and give assurance of an 
inheritance in that which is to come. 

Wm. Nield, to whom we had a letter of introduc- 
tion, furnished us with a guide, who conducted us 
through several of the large manufactories in Man- 
chester. The general appearance of the operatives 
was not so bad as we had expected ; the situation of 
very many of this class, however, is pitiable ; not 
having full employment, two scanty meals per day 
is frequently all they are able to procure, and their 
children often go hungry to bed. The amount of 
wages they can earn when working full time is, for 
men, nine to twelve shillings sterling per week ; wo- 
men six to eight ; children two and six pence to five 
shillings, varying according to their dexterity or kind 
of employment. Children under thirteen years of 
age are prohibited by law from working full time. 
Some attention is paid to education, but much more 
ought to be given to this subject. 

At Oxford we visited several of the colleges. 
There are twenty-two of these establishments, with 
their presidents and professors ; to each a chapel is 
attached, having much heavy carved work, and win- 



Lu!Q,: 



12 

dows with painted glass ; some representing their 
kings in royal robes or war armor ; others, the apos- 
tles and reformers, and eminent men of the church in 
times past. In one, the cardinal virtues were beauti- 
fully represented — Temperance pouring water in a 
glass — Fortitude leaning on a lion — Faith resting on 
a cross — -Charity raising three kneeling children — 
Hope resting on an anchor — Justice holding her 
scales blindfold — Prudence with serpents. A stone 
cross in one of the streets of Oxford, marks the spot 
"syhere Ridley and Latimer were burnt at the stake. 

Windsor castle is one of the many monuments 
of the extravagance and folly of the English no- 
bility and aristocracy which oppresses the laborer, 
by taking from him, in the shape of impost and 
taxes, so much of his earnings as to leave but a scanty 
subsistence for himself. We met with scarcely any 
who appeared to see the effect of the large palaces 
and parks on the population. They seem to think 
it a kind of charity in the legal owners, to empjoy 
hundreds of persons in beautifying these parks, plea- 
sure grounds, palaces, and castles, forgetting that 
their labor produces nothing that ministers to the 
real wants and comforts of life, and that the wages 
thus paid is first taken from the producing laborer 
without compensation, enabling the few to live in 
idleness, luxury, and extravagance, at the expense of 
the many. 

A woman conducted us through the magnificent 
state apartments of the castle, which are kept more 
for the gratification of pride, and for show, than for 



10 
O 

use. As we passed from one room to another, our 
conductor told us the name of each, and pointed out 
the paintmgs and objects of curiosity; but I could not 
look upon them with much interest. A chapel is at- 
tached to the Castle, in which service is performed 
twice each day. As we went along, the chaplain, 
and a few attendants, with much pomp and ceremo- 
ny, were assembling for morning service ; we stop- 
ped at the door a short time, but could not understand 
the indistinct speaker. The responses and chantings 
of the boys, dressed in white robes, bordered on the 
ridiculous. Banners were hanging round the chapel, 
showing the unity of church and state. In an outer 
part of the building, was a beautiful cenotaph of the 
Princess Charlotte, representing her in the position 
in which she died, with a sheet over her ; rising from 
the bed an angelic form, said to be a likeness of her- 
self ; attending angels bearing her babe ,* friends 
weeping, kneeling beside the bed. 

On Sixth-day, Sixth month 5th, we reached Lon- 
don. The coach stopped at the Saracen's Head, up 
a court leading out of a narrow street ,* the situation 
was not such as to give us a very favourable impres- 
sion of the great metropolis. But when we were lo- 
cated at Mark Moore's, No. 6, Queen street place 
Cheapside, we could then see things in their reahty. 
During our stay we visited many places of interest 
and curiosity, and contrasted the residences of the 
lords and nobles, their splendid equipage and retinue, 
with the wretched abodes of thousands who were 
contriving ways to obtain a few pennies wherewith 

2 



14 

to lengthen out a miserable existence. The differ- 
ence of condition is very striking to any observant 
American, and should be a warning to us to adhere 
to such institutions in our country, as will secure and 
perpetuate a truly democratic form of government, 
in which the greatest good to the greatest number is 
the object, instead of the good of the few at the ex- 
pense of the many. As the prominent objects of cu- 
riosity are familiar, by description, to most, I shall 
not attempt to give an account of them ; but confine 
myself to circumstances more connected with our- 
selves and the object of our visit. 

Persons were beginning to assemble for the pur- 
pose of attending the approaching Anti-Slavery Con- 
vention. In order that they might have an opportu- 
nity of becoming acquainted with one another, espe- 
cially those from foreign countries, the committee of 
the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society gave 
general invitations to tea at their rooms. Three as- 
semblages of this kind were held after we arrived in 
London, previous to the meeting of the Convention. 
It had not been usual for women to be invited, but as 
several had crossed the Atlantic, to manifest their in- 
terest in the cause of the slave, and to give their aid 
to such measures as would promote his liberation, it 
was concluded by the committee to deviate from their 
custom on this occasion. On the first evening, only 
one female was present beside those from this country; 
on the second, a number more attended ; and on the 
third, nearly as many as of the other sex. 

Soon after getting there, on the second evening, I 
v/as told that some persons wished to see me in a 



15 

back room ; following my informant, I found two 
Friends in waiting, neither of whom I had seen be- 
fore. They shook hands, and one said, I am Josiah 
Forster, and this is Jacob Post ; to which I replied, 
that having a letter for Jacob Post, I was glad of this 
opportunity to deliver it ; and I was also pleased to 
meet with Josiah Forster, having read, some years 
ago, with interest, a correspondence between him and 
my grandfather. After some conversation which the 
mention of this circumstance led into, J. Forster re- 
marked, they had understood that on the previous 
evening, myself or wife had made use of some ex- 
pressions, as if we were members of the Society of 
Friends, and they had received information from the 
United States that we were not. To which I an- 
swered, that I did not know what information they 
had received, but that we were members of the So- 
ciety of Friends, and had a certificate of the fact from 
the monthly meeting to which we belonged, at the 
same time handed it to them read, which they did, 
wdth the remark that there were a good many names 
to it, and with some objection to its address ; but they 
could not however recognize us as Friends. This I 
told them we were fully aware of, and we wished to' 
pass for just what we were, and our position to be 
fairly understood, but their unwillingness to acknow- 
ledge us, did not alter the fact of our being members 
of the Society of Friends ; and while we claimed so 
to be, we had no disposition to impose upon them, 
and no alarm need be felt on that account. J. Fors- 
ter said he hoped we should have a pleasant visit, 



16 

and be treated with kindness, but we must not expect 
to receive much attention from Friends, particularly 
from such as had young people about them, fearing 
the dangerous tendency of our doctrines. To this I re- 
plied, that such must act according to their own plea- 
sure in this respect, and they might be assured that we 
should not ask them to notice us ; but that this fear 
did not manifest a very strong confidence in their 
doctrines, if they were afraid of having them unset- 
tled by a transient visit. I also mentioned, I had 
long thought that those in England, who called them- 
selves Friends, were very ignorant of the state of things 
in America, and of the causes of the separation, and 
from the little opportunity I had had for observation, as 
well as from the present interview, this opinion was 
much confirmed. Our conversation continued about 
half an hour, mostly between J, Forster and myself; 
J. Post took very little part in it, and afterwards 
treated us with much kindness and attention, inviting 
us to dine, &c. This first open exhibition of preju- 
dice and bigotry made me feel somevvhat sad for a 
time, but we soon saw so much of it that my sadness 
was turned to pity. 

In the course of the same evening my wife was 
requested to give an account of the mob at Smyrna, 
that obliged Daniel Neall to walk two miles through the 
mud, and then put some tar and feathers on his coat. 
In narrating the circumstance, she mentioned they 
were travelling with a minute in the usual order of 
Friends, adding, " I suppose it is understood here 
when I speak of our Friends, I do not allude to those 



17 

in connexion with Friends in this country." As soon 
as she had finished a detail of the occurrence, J. Fors- 
ter said, that although Lucretia Mott had kindly 
stated she was not in connexion with those acknow- 
ledged by them as Friends in America, yet he felt 
conscientiously bound to inform those present, that 
she was not a member of the Society of Friends, and 
could not be recognized by them as such. To this 
I rejoined, that we considered ourselves as belonging- 
to that religious body in America, and J had a cer- 
tificate in my pocket from the monthly meeting to 
which we were attached, which I would read if any 
one desired ; and that it was probably known to those 
interested, that a division had taken place in the So- 
ciety in the United States ; but as our object in being 
there was not necessarily connected with any secta- 
rian vieiws, we had no wish to intrude the subject; 
still, we were prepared to meet it then or at any other 
time. Several disapproved of Josiah's remarks, and 
rebuked him for them, as being improper and out of 
place. Jonathan Backhouse hoped this subject would 
not be again introduced, but if any one wished to 
have conversation with the friends from a foreign 
country, they had better call upon them, or take a 
more private opportunity. 

The subject of admitting women as delegates to 
the Convention was much talked of in social circles^ 
The English committee, having conferred with some 
members of the executive committee in New York, 
and influenced by their representations, seemed 
alarmed at the idea of such an innovation on their 

2* \ 



IS 

customs and usages. The circumstance, they al- 
leged, would be mentioned in the newspapers, and 
the Convention might be the subject of ridicule. On 
such flimsy reasons and excuses, the right was as- 
sumed to exclude women as delegates, and only ad- 
mit them as visiters ; even this was a small advance 
in the path of freedom, they never before having been 
admitted to any business meetings. The women 
from Pennsylvania, in deference to the prejudices of 
many of the brethren, concluded not to press their 
claim, but to withhold their credentials, and submit 
to the control of those who usurped the power over 
them. The privation seemed to them trifling, in com- 
parison with the oppression of those whose rights 
they were willing and desirous to aid in restoring. 

Notwithstanding this conclusion, the subject of the 
admission of women was brought up on the first day 
of the Convention by Wendell Phillips, whose wife 
had been delegated by the Massachusetts Society. 
An animated and somewhat excited discussion ensued, 
which continued several hours, when it was decided 
in the negative by a pretty large majority. Thus 
one of the first acts of a Convention, assembled for 
the purpose of promoting the cause of liberty and 
freedom universally, was a vote, the spirit and object 
of which was a determination that the chains should 
not be broken, with which oppressive custom has so 
long bound the mind of woman. 

The female delegation finding themselves thus ex- 
cluded, requested they might have an opportunity to 
confer with their sisters in England, on the subject of 



19 

slavery, by having a meeting with them alone. A 
few manifested a reluctance to granting this reason- 
able request, but others appeared favorable. After it 
had been several times mentioned, in order that they 
might procure a place and fix a time, some of those 
who had professed to be in favor of such a meeting, 
said they were afraid other subjects raighrbe intro- 
duced, though they had been told, and were again 
assured, that the wish to have the meeting was with 
no other view than to promote the emancipation of 
the slave, by encouraging one another in such mea- 
sures as would be likely to hasten this desirable re- 
sult. But their sectarian fears so overcame their 
anti-slavery feeling, that they were unwilling to trust 
the women of England to meet half a dozen from 
America, to confer together on the subject of slavery. 
The religious opinions of some of the latter was '|he 
avowed ground of objection ; and I am not alone in 
believing that this had some influence in the decision 
of the Convention ; but we were unable to see what 
our opinions on doctrines had to do, in preventing any 
who held them from pleading the cause of down-trod- 
den and injured humanity. 

On the day following the conclusion of the Con- 
vention to exclude women, Daniel O'Connell made 
some remarks in reference to the subject, which was 
the occasion of the following note to him, and his 
reply. 

To Dajstiel O'Coxxell, M. P. 

The rejected delegates from America to the <« General Anti- 
Slavery Conference," are desirous to have the opinion of one 



20 

of the most distinguished advocates of universal liberty, as to 
the reasons urged by the majority for their rejection, viz : that 
the admission of women, being contrary to English usage, 
would subject them to ridicule, and that such recognition of 
their acknowledged principles would prejudice the cause of 
human freedom. 

Permit me, then, on behalf of the delegation, to ask of 
Daniel O'Connell the favor of his sentiment, as incidentally 
expressed in the meeting on the morning of the 13th inst., and 
oblige his sincere friend, 

LUCRETIA MOTT. 

London, Sixth mo. 17, 1840. 

16 Pall Mall, 20th June, 1840. 

Madam, — Taking the liberty of protesting against being sup- 
posed to adopt any of the comphmentary phrases in your let- 
ter, as being applicable to me, I readily comply with your re- 
quest to give my opinion as to the propriety of the admission 
of the female delegates into the Convention. 

I should premise by avowing, that my first impression was 
strong against that admission ; and I believe I declared that 
opinion in private conversation. But when I was called on, 
by you, to give my personal decision on the subject, I felt it 
my duty to investigate the grounds of the opinion I formed ; 
and upon that investigation, I easily discovered that it was 
founded on no better grounds, than an apprehension of the ridi- 
cule it might excite, if the Convention were to do what is so 
unusual in England — to admit women to an equal share and 
right of discussion. I also, without difficulty, recognised that 
this was an unworthy, and indeed a cowardly motive, and I 
easily overcame its influence. 

My mature consideration of the entire subject, convinces me 
of the right of the female delegates to take their seats in the 
Convention, and of the injustice of excluding them. I do not 
care to add, that I deem it also impolitic ; because that exclu- 
sion being unjust, it ought not to have taken place, even if it 
could also be politic. 

My reasons are — First — That as it has been the practice in 
America for females to act as delegates and office-bearers, as 



21 

well as in the common capacity of members of anti-slavery so- 
cieties, the persons who called this Convention ought to have 
warned the American Anti-Slavery Societies to confine their 
choice to males ; and, for want of this caution, many female 
delegates have made long journeys by land, and crossed the 
ocean, to enjoy a right which they had no reason to fear would 
be withheld from them at the end of their tedious voyage. 

Secondly — The cause which is so intimately interwoven 
with every good feeling of humanity, and with the highest and 
most sacred principles of Christianity — the anti-slavery cause 
in America — is under the greatest, the deepest, the most heart- 
binding obligations to the females who have joined the anti- 
slavery societies in the United States. They have shown a 
passive, but permanent courage, which ought to put many of 
the male advocates to the blush. The American ladies have 
persevered in our holy cause, amidst difficulties and dangers, 
with the zeal of confessors, and the firmness of martyrs ; and, 
therefore, emphatically, they should not be disparaged or dis- 
couraged by any slight or contumely offered to their rights. 
Neither are this slight and contumely much diminished by the 
fact, that it was not intended to offer any slight or to convey 
any contumely. Both results inevitably follow from the fact 
of rejection. This ought not to be. 

Thirdly — Even in England, with all our fastidiousness, wo- 
men vote upon the great regulation of the Bank of England ; 
in the nomination of its directors and governors, and in all 
other details equally with men ; that is, they assist in the most 
awfully important business, the regulation of the currency of 
this mighty empire, influencing the fortunes of all commercial 
nations. 

Fourthly — Our women, in like manner, vote at the India 
House — that is, in the regulation of the government of more 
than one hundred millions of human beings. 

Fifthly — Mind has no sex ; and in the peaceable struggle 
to abolish slavery, all over the world, it is the basis of the pre- 
sent Convention, to seek success by peaceable, moral and in- 
tellectual means alone, to the utter exclusion of physical force 
or armed violence. We ai'e engaged in a strife, not of strength, 
but of argument. Our warfare is not military — it is strictly 



22 

Christian. We wield not the weapons of destruction or injury 
to our adversaries. We rely entirely on reason and persuasion 
common to both sexes, and on the emotions of benevolence and 
charity, which are more lovely and permanent amongst wo- 
men, than amongst men. 

In the church to which I belong, the female sex are devoted 
by as strict rules, and with as much if not more unceasing 
austerity, to the performance (and that to the exclusion of all 
worldly or temporal joys and pleasures) of all works of hu- 
manity, of education, of benevolence, and of charity, in all its 
holy and sacred branches, as the men. 

The great work in which we are now engaged, embraces all 
these charitable categories ; and the women have the same du- 
ties, and should therefore enjoy the same rights with the men, 
in the performance of their duties. 

I have a consciousness that I have not done my duty in not 
sooner urging these considerations on the Convention. My ex- 
cuse is, that I was unavoidably absent during the discussion on 
the subject. 

I have the honor to be, very respectfully, Madam, 
Your obedient servant, 

DANIEL O'CONNELL. 

Mrs. LuCRETIA MOTT. 

Amelia Opie was in constant attendance at the 
Convention. On entering one of the meetings she 
accosted my wife, saying that though in one sense 
the women delegates were rejected, yet they were 
held in high estimation there, and had raised them- 
selves in the view of many by thus coming. 

Ann Knight, a devoted friend to the slave, and an 
advocate of human rights, was quite indignant that 
such a Convention should reject women, on the flimsy 
plea, that being contrary to English usage it would 
subject them to ridicule, and prejudice their cause. 
She was unremitting in her attentions to the Ameri- 



23 

can women, often visitins; them at their lodwinos, and 
doing much to make their visit pleasant. 

That noble hearted young woman, Elizabeth Pease, 
daughter of Joseph Pease, of Darlington, manifested 
great kindness of feeling. She was one of the first 
to call upon us on our arrival in London, and the 
last to bid us farewell on the mornincr we sailed from 
Liverpool ; having, in company with her father, come 
from Manchester for that purpose. Her cultivated 
niind and fine talents are devoted to subjects of re- 
form, with an energy and perseverance rarely 
equalled. 

The Convention will, I believe, be productive of 
much good, in arousing the powers of Europe to 
greater exertion to abolish the slave-trade and slave- 
ry ; but it would have done far more good, had sec- 
tarian feelings and prejudices been excluded ; and 
had all whose hearts prompted them to action on this 
subject, been admitted to an equal participation in its 
deliberations. Great credit, however, is due to Eng- 
lish abolitionists, for their devotion, industry, and 
perseverance in doing what they could to break the 
chains of slavery, and for the liberality they have 
manifested, in raising large sums of money to carry 
on this work of justice and benevolence, and for the 
kindness and courtesy extended towards those from 
foreign lands who were drawn together on that oc- 
casion. 

To attempt to give even a brief account of the 
proceedings of the Convention, would extend this 
sketch beyond proper limits. Much general infer- 



24 

mation on the subject of slavery was elicited ; and 
its extent, the wrong and cruelty unavoidably grow- 
ing out of, and connected with it, were set forth at 
large ; and the proper measures necessary for the 
removal of this great evil, were discussed and 
adopted. 

It was a matter of much gratification that the ve- 
nerable Thomas Clarkson was able to preside at 
some of the meetings. His introduction to the Con- 
vention, on the day it assembled, created a deep in- 
terest and feeling, and will not be easily forgotten by 
those who witnessed it. Accompanied by his widowed 
daughter-in-law and her little son, a boy of nine 
years old, the only remaining representative of his 
grandfather, he entered the room, showing, by his 
faltering step and bowed form, that his once majestic 
frame and commanding person were yielding to the 
infirmities of age. He was received standing, and 
in silence ; when he had taken the chair, all re^ 
sumed their seats, and a solemn pause of some mi- 
nutes ensued. Joseph Sturge then introduced him, 
and briefly, but impressively alluded to his many 
years of devotion to the cause of freedom, the oppo- 
sition he had encountered, and how largely he had 
contributed to arouse the nation to the enormity of 
the evils of slavery, &c. 

Thomas Clarkson, in his opening address, said : — 
<• I stand before you as a humble individual, whose life has 
been most intimately connected with the subject which you 
are met this day to consider. I was formerly, under Provi- 
dence, the originator, and am now unhappily the only surviv- 
ing member of the committee, which was first instituted in this 



25 

country, in the year 1787, for the abolition of the slave-trade. 
My dear friend and fellow-laborer, Mr. Wilberforce, who was 
one of them, is, as you know, dead ; and here I may say of 
him, that there never was a man, either dead or living, to 

whom your cause was more indebted, than to him." 

* * ***■■* * 

« My dear friends, I was invited, many months ago, to be at 
this meeting; but old age and infirmities, being lame and 
nearly blind, and besides being otherwise seriously affected at 
times, gave me no hope of attending. But I have been per- 
mitted to come among you, and I rejoice in it, if I were only 
allowed to say in this place, in reference to your future labors, 
Take courage, be not dismayed, go on, persevere to the last: 
you will always have pleasure from the thought of having done 
so. I can say with truth, that though my body is fast going 
to decay, my heart beats as warmly in this sacred cause, now 
in the eighty-first year of my age, as it did at the age of twenty- 
four, when I first took it up. And I can say further, with 
truth, that if I had another life given me to live, I would de- 
vote it to the same subject." 

After alluding to the causes and evils of slavery, 

and some of the means necessary for its removal, he 

thus concludes : 

" I have only now to say, may the Supreme Ruler of all 
human events, at whose disposal are not only the hearts but 
the intellects of men, may He in his abundant mercy, guide 
your councils, and give his blessings upon your labors." 

A few days after, the following note was received 
from this venerable man, addressed " To the Ameri- 
can Ladies." 

" My dear Friends, — Being very much indisposed to~day, and 
on that account obliged to leave London to-morrow for the 
country for a few days, where I can get a little ease and quiet, 
I should not like to take my departure without paying my per- 
sonal respects to you, and acknowledging the obligations which 
our sacred cause owes to you, for having so warmly taken it 

3 



26 

up, and protected it on your side of the water, against the at- 
tacks of its adversaries ; and this in times of threatened perse- 
cution. We owe you also a debt of gratitude, for having made 
the sacrifice of leaving your families, and encountering the 
dangers of the ocean to serve it. If you will permit me, I will 
call upon you for half an hour for this purpose, and bring with 
me my daughter and little grandson. 

I am, ladies, with the most cordial esteem and gratitude, your 
sincere friend, 

Thomas Ciabkson." 

This proposed visit having become known, about 
forty persons assembled to have the satisfaction of 
being with him, and enjoying his presence ; all of 
whom he greeted with cordiality and affection. One 
of our company, Elizabeth J. Neall, being introduced 
to him as the grand-daughter of Warner Mifflin, he 
said, with some emotion, " dear child ! he was the 
first man in America who liberated his slaves uncon- 
ditionally." During his stay, some of the young 
women asked his daughter for a lock of his hair ; 
others perceiving it, also wanted this memento. A 
person present remarked, that his hair was in dan- 
ger of being all cut off; to which he replied, " never 
mind, shear away." After some time spent in plea- 
sant social conversation, they were about to leave, 
v^hen my wife requested that the company would re- 
main a short time in silence ; which being readily 
complied with, she made some impressive remarks, 
addressed to T. Clarkson and his grandson, that ap- 
peared to be well received. A few days after, the 
following note was received from his danghter-in- 
law, addressed to my wife : 



27 

" My dear Friend — I send you, and others of our American 
friends, a few slips of paper, containing part of a sentence in 
my dear father's speech, at the opening of the Convention, 
written and signed by himself. It occurred to me from what 
I witnessed on Sunday evening, that it would give you plea- 
sure and satisfaction to possess and distribute them. That 
evening I shall never forget, and bowed down as I was in my 
inmost spirit by the recollection of the missing link between 
grandfather and grandson, and by a glimpse of the uncertain 
future, as it regards my precious boy, I could not but catch 
the warmth of the enthusiasm around me ; and I felt that if 
wisdom and strength were given me from above, my greatest 
earthly solace would be, to train the dear child of him, who 
was dearer to me than my own existence, in the upward path, 
which, though often toilsome, leads through infinite mercy to 
eternal glory. With feelings of great respect, I am, my dear 
friend, very sincerely yours, 

Mary Clarkson. 

Hatchem House, June 17, 1840." 

The Convention continued ten days, holding two 
sessions each day, from ten till two, and from four 
till seven o'clock. Most of the meetings were at the 
Free Masons' Hall, but that building being wanted 
for some other use, before the business of the Con- 
vention could be satisfactorily accomplished. Friends 
granted the use of their meeting-house at Grace 
Church street, in which it was held the two last days. 

The day following the close of the Convention, a 
large public meeting was held in Exeter Hall, at 
which the Duke of Sussex presided, introduced by a 
Friend, who informed the audience that he had great 
pleasure in saying, that this titled piece of frail hu- 
manity had " condescended" to act as chairman. 
Another Friend " did not wish to repress the usual 
demonstrations, on the entrance of his Royal High- 



2S 

ness." The adulation of an English audience for 
rank and title is disgusting to an American republi- 
can. Even many of those who consider themselves 
as the descendants of George Fox, and profess to 
adhere to the principles of freedom and equality 
which he inculcated, are deeply infected with this 
man-worship ; giving this evidence, in addition to 
others, of their dereliction from the simple and inde- 
pendent practices which the true doctrines of Quaker- 
ism will always lead into. 

On the evening of the day that the meeting at Ex- 
eter Hall was held, the members of the Convention, 
and others, took a parting cup of tea in a large public 
room at the " Crown and Anchor." It was supposed 
that from four to five hundred persons were present. 
As the resolution excluding women did not extend to 
this company, my wife embraced the opportunity to 
give her views on the subject of the use of the pro- 
duce of slavery, which were listened to with atten- 
tion, and apparently well received. In the course of 
her remarks, she mentioned the example and faith- 
fulness of some members of the Society of Friends 
in this respect, without mentioning any names. Jo- 
siah Forster could not allow this allusion to pass un- 
noticed ; and when she closed, he began to speak, by 
saying, that he " felt conscientiously bound to inform 
the company, and he did so with no other than feel- 
ings of kindness, that Lucretia Mott," — when he had 
proceeded thus far, it was perceived that he was 
about to disclaim religious fellowship with her, and a 
general burst of disapprobation was manifested by 



29 

cries of" down, down, order, order, shame, shame;" 
but he finished his disavowal amidst the confusion, 
though very few heard what he said, neither did they 
wish to hear this exemplification of his intolerance. 
It is probable that all who were present knew before 
this, that the Society of Friends in England did not 
recognise us as being in connection with them. As 
soon as he had made his speech, he left the room, 
probably displeased that his feelings met with so lit- 
tle sympathy, or at the manifestation of dissatisfac- 
tion with his remarks. 

During our stay in London, we attended two of 
the meetings of Friends on the mornings of First- 
day; one at Grace Church street, where ninety-six 
persons were present ; and one at Devooshire house, 
about two hundred present ; both silent, except a few 
words in the latter. The meetings at Southwark and 
Tottenham, we were told, were larger. 

The opportunities I had for observation, though 
limited, satisfied me that a great portion of the So- 
ciety in England, particularly among the young and 
middle-aged, know very little about the circumstances 
of the division in the Society of Friends in the United 
States, or that it was caused by that domineering 
spirit of intolerance, which now has its iron grasp 
upon many of them. They have been told that one 
Elias Hicks rose up in the Society of Friends in 
America, preaching dangerous doctrines of infidelity.^ 
and drew away quite a large number, who went off 
and left the Society. In connexion with this perver- 
sion and erroneous statement, the necessity of avoid- 

3* 



30 



ing " these separatists," seems to have been sedu- 
lously inculcated ; for even after the lapse of so many 
years, the fact of our going to that country was so 
alarming, that Josiah Forster mentioned in their 
Yearly Meeting, that he had received a letter* from 
America, informing of our proposed visit ; that we 
were of the separatists, and warned his associates to 
beware of us, and our doctrines. We had no idea 
that we were deemed of so much importance as to 
require such a proclamation of our visit. It is not 
likely that this act of courtesy would be returned if 
two, or even twenty, of their Friends were coming to 
this country, by any one thinking it of sufficient con- 
sequence to mention it in our Yearly Meeting, or give 
any caution respecting them. 

Friends in England, from their habits of industry 
and economy, have become rich, and from this cause, 
added to their kindness of disposition, and active be- 
nevolence, have obtained great influence in neigh- 
borhoods where they reside, and in the nation at 
large. They have received a full share of attention 
and praise from those whom the usages and laws of 
the country place in what are called the higher 
classes ; the nobility, gentry, and clergy. Pleased 
with the flattery bestowed upon them, they have been 
gradually sliding from the simple doctrine of obedi- 
ence to the light within, as the ground of salvation, 
into the belief that assent to the dogmas of school 
divinity is essential ; so that many have come to the 

* From Stephen Grelett, we understood. 



conclusion that the letter of the Scriptures is the 
paramount rule of action. 

A considerable number, finding their fellow mem- 
bers not yet prepared to abandon the fundamental 
doctrine of the Society, have withdrawn therefrom, 
and joined other denominations ; among- whom were 
several who had for years made profession of minis- 
tering under the immediate influence of the Divine 
Spirit. Some have united with the Plymouth Breth- 
ren, a new sect, differing from the established Church, 
in some of their forms ; others have gone to the 
Church, which class embraces many of the middle- 
aged and young. I apprehend, that unless Friends 
in England return to the simple doctrine of Quaker- 
ism, as believed in, and inculcated by George Fox 
and his contemporaries, instead of placing so much 
importance on an assent to particular opinions, thev 
will be in danger of being swallowed up with the un- 
intelligible dogmas of Church and State theology, 
while they may retain their identity, by their forms, 
and peculiarity of dress and address. 

With many there is reason to fear the testimony 
against a corrupt and oppressive hierarchy is merely 
traditional ; for assuredly if the same living, active 
principle that impelled our forefathers to cry out 
against this monster of iniquity and corruption^ was 
alive in them, they would raise a trumpet-sound long 
and loud, that would awake the people of England 
to a just sense of the bondage in which they are held 
by the clerical establishments of the land. Instead 
of this. Friends quietly submit to the tithe distraints. 



32 

with the exception of an occasional and very respect- 
ful remonstrance. 

Had the righteous indignation that was felt in years 
past, been continued and reiterated with the same ho- 
nesty and boldness, the unholy association of church 
and state might ere this have been severed, and the 
people delivered from the tyranny of the priesthood. 

A writer of the present day in England, in a letter 
to his friend in America, says : 

« The true import and meaning of religion differs essentially 
from that of theology. The former embraces all the practical 
duties of man to his God ; the latter is a system of speculative 
truths and abstract theories. The primitive Quakers seem to 
have satisfied themselves with the cultivation of rehgion, leav- 
ing dogmas to cloistered writers and speculative declaimers : 
and whenever Quakers shall set up either written or declared 
creeds, instead of their quiet, peaceable worship, they will find 
themselves exhibiting a target, against which all sorts of theo- 
logical missiles will be hurled with impunity, and they in turn 
must be combatants in that war which has caused more blood- 
shed than contests for crowns and empires. 

« Melancthon, one of the first great reformers, said : < Arti- 
cles of faith must be often changed, and calculated for times 
and circumstances.' A distinguished English writer of the 
present day says : < The church of England, it is true, has re- 
tained the same written articles for centuries, but the interpre- 
tation of these articles has been constantly varying. At one 
time, Armenianism was heresy ; at another Galvanism; again 
it was Socinianism; and at last it was agreed, or tacitly un- 
derstood, that every man may interpret these articles his own 
way, without cross examination, or torturing interrogatories.' 

« The present established Church of Great Britain consists 
of about six millions — Catholics, five— Dissenters, eight mil- 
lions. The English Quakers are substantially, at this time, 
churchmen in livery, and compose the body guards of 
the bishops, standing between them and the thirteen mil- 
lions really opposed to them, of Catholics and dissenters." 



In the days of Geo. Fox, the bishops and priests 
looked upon him and his contemporaries as their 
greatest enemies. But in the present day we see that 
they who claim to be the descendants of those bold 
reformers, are considered the defenders and friends 
of the same class who persecuted their ancestors. 

In conversation with an individual who stands in 
the station of a minister, on the fundamental princi- 
ple of our profession, the immediate influence of the 
Divine Spirit, Tie insisted that while they admitted 
that doctrine, it must be considered only one part of 
the scheme of salvation ; and it was equally neces- 
sary to believe that this Spirit came to us by and 
through Christ, and that by the shedding of his out- 
ward blood we obtained forgiveness of sins. I re- 
plied, that if we acknowledged the influence of the 
Spirit, and gave evidence, by our conduct, that we 
were obeying its dictates, I did not see why we should 
differ as to how this Spirit came to us. " The wind 
bloweth where it listeth, we hear the sound thereof, 
but cannot tell whence it cometh or whither it go- 
eth." He thought it was important to believe that it 
came through Jesus Christ, and salvation by his out- 
ward sacrifice on the cross, because it was so taught 
in the Scriptures. That, I said, was only the result 
of his interpretation of Scripture ; to which he an- 
swered, "not mine only, but of all professing Chris- 
tians." 

Another Friend said, that the great Jehovah, who 
created and upheld the worlds, dwelt in the body of 
flesh that was born of the virgin Mary ; and when I 



34 

objected, because it was a gross idea, degrading to 
the character of the great I AM, and not according 
to my conceptions of his greatness and holiness ; he 
replied that we were so taught in the Scripture, quot- 
ing the first of John ; " In the beginning, &c." This 
led to some conversation as to Scripture authority, 
and its proper interpretation. I stated my agreement 
with the views of Robert Barclay, in his proposition 
on that subject, to which he said, " Barclay was a 
young man when he wrote that." 

From the best information I could obtain, I think 
the number of those claiming to be of the Society of 
Friends in the United Kingdom, does not exceed se- 
venteen thousand, and is decreasing. This decline 
is in part to be attrihuted to an increase of a worldly 
spirit, the consequence of the accumulation of large 
wealth, by some who had obtained and secured much 
influence in the affairs of the Society ; and the mem- 
bers being accustomed to see, in the government of 
the nation, the few titled and wealthy control the 
many, are prepared to render an easy acquiescence 
to the views and dictation of this class among them- 
selves. But when this control was attempted amongst 
us, who were accustomed to consider the few placed 
in offices as the servants of the many, we would not 
submit to the usurpation, and the separation en- 
sued. 

In England, another cause of declension was the 
association of Friends with the clergy in Missionary 
and Bible Societies, in which a knowledge of the let- 
ter of Scripture was held as the one thing needful. 



35 

Thus, in their endeavors to convey to others what 
has ever been considered by our Society as subordi- 
nate and secondary, they have so far fallen into the 
snare that some now consider it as being primary, 
and look upon the Bible with feelings bordering on 
idolatry, some instances of which we witnessed. 
Although I have, perhaps, expressed myself strongly, 
in reference to what I consider the declension of the 
Society of Friends in England, it is with no feelings 
of unkindness towards them as a body, or to any in- 
dividually ; but for the purpose of showing what ap- 
peared to me to be their present situation, and that 
with our Friends they can have no unity or religious 
fellowship. If they think, as I have some reason to 
believe is the case, that we have any desire to be 
identified with them, they are entirely mistaken ; for 
we are quite as willing to be distinct from them, as 
they are to be so from us. There is this difference 
between us ; they insist that we shall hold their opi- 
nions and be of their belief, without which they will 
not associate with us ; we are willing to mingle with 
them and permit them to enjoy their own opinions 
and belief, if they will not force them upon us. In 
the practice of the Christian duties of life, we claim 
no pre-eminence. 

At our boarding house it was usual to read achap„ 
ter in the Bible after breakfast ; this gave several op- 
portunities to open some views of gospel truth in ac- 
cordance with our belief. And being willing to have 
more public meetings, if way should open for it, the 
person with whom we boarded, who was a Baptist, 



36 

said there was a room attached to the chapel he at- 
tended, which he thought could be had. The next 
day he informed us the trustees had granted it for 
our occupancy, and the time was fixed for a meeting ;. 
but on the following day the grant was withdrawn, in 
consequence, as he told us, of information that had 
been given by some Friends to the trustees. Through 
the influence of our kind friend, Joseph Hutton, pas- 
tor of the Unitarian chapel in Carter Lane, that 
house was granted for a meeting, which was attended 
by a respectable audience. 

The day after this meeting, we dined at Elizabeth 
J. Reid's, whose many and marked attentions to us 
will not soon be forgotten. Lady Byron was one of 
the company, with whom we had previous acquaint- 
ance through a letter of introduction from C. Combe. 
By invitation fiom Lady B., my L. accompanied her 
the next day on a visit to a manual labor school for 
poor children, that she had established six miles from 
London, and supported at her own expense. There 
were upwards of ninety boys, who were provided for 
and instructed ; the older ones cultivated each a lit- 
tle garden spot, and had also built themselves a work- 
shop for their mechanical operations. All appeared 
much delighted to see their benefactress, who distri- 
buted among them presents of books, &;c. When 
they were collected, she addressed them briefly, ex- 
pressive of her desire for their improvement and hap- 
piness ; then introducing her friend from the United 
States, she expressed the wish that if any thing was 
said to them, they would remember as much of it as 



37 

they could, and send it to her in writing. Lady B.'s 
son-in-law, Lord Lovelace, has a similar school, on 
a larger scale, for boys and girls. 

While we were in London, Samuel Gurney invited 
the Americans who were there, to dine, in company 
with a number of others. His mansion, formerly 
the residence of Dr. Fothergill, is four miles from the 
city, and is situated in a handsome park of one hun- 
dred acres. About sixty persons were present. The 
day was clear and fine, and the visit a very pleasant 
one. 

The Duchess of Sutherland, from the interest she felt 
in the anti-slavery subject, wished to see the Americans 
who had crossed the Atlantic on this account, parti- 
cularly William Lloyd Garrison, whose devotion 
to the cause had interested her in his behalf. Hear- 
ing they were to be at S. Gurney's, she signified her 
wish to call upon them there ; accordingly, at the 
time appointed, she made her appearance, accompa- 
nied by her brother, Lord Morpeth, and her daughter, 
Lady Elizabeth, who mingled with the company for 
an hour, walking and conversing on the velvet lawn. 
Being altogether a novice in the etiquette of receiving 
such distinguished personages, I was amused at the 
consultations, as to the proper ceremonies to be ob- 
served on the occasion. By particular invitation, W. 
L. Garrison afterwards called upon the Duchess, and 
at her request sat for his likeness, that she might 
have it to place in her gallery of paintings. 

Here we met with Elizabeth Fry, sister of S. G., 
who has done so much in reforming prison discipline ; 

4 



38 

benevolence of feeling, and amiableness of disposi- 
tion, appear to be the prominent traits of her cha- 
racter. 

We were also in company with E. Fry and several 
other Friends, at Wm. Ball's, Tottenham, who, when 
he invited us, said to my wife, "Although I differ 
from you widely on some subjects of the highest im- 
portance, yet my heart goes out towards you with 
much affection." During the evening he read a chap- 
ter in the Bible, saying it was their uniform practice, 
and he supposed none present would wish him to de- 
viate from it ; after which the way would be open for 
remarks from any of the company. The opportu- 
nity was embraced by several persons, among them 
our host, with what we did not consider quite old- 
fashioned Quakerism, but in great sincerity and ex- 
cellent spirit. He was followed by a prayer from 
E. Fry, especially for the strangers from a foreign 
land, who had made sacrifices for the cause of the 
oppressed ; that their work of humanity might be 
blessed to the breaking of the chains of the poor 
captive, but above all, blessed to themselves, in bring- 
ing them to the unsearchable riches of Christ. 

Isaac and Anna Braithwaite attended the Conven- 
tion ; we saw them frequently, and dined with them 
at their lodgings by invitation. Some of their chil- 
dren have joined the Church; in speaking of which, 
Anna said : " It was a trial to me, but where there is 
sincerity we must have charity ;" on which my wife 
remarked, " I hope you have learned to extend that 
charity towards some of us, whom you denounced a 



39 

few years ago." After a short pause she replied, " I 
was censured by some of my friends in America, for 
mingling with you and giving you as much counten- 
ance as I did." 

Wm. Forster also attended the Convention, and 
took an active part in its business. To a kind 
invitation to visit him at Norwich, I replied, that 
if we went there, we should be pleased to call 
upon him ; he said, " Not a call, but come to 
my house, I shall be glad to have a visit from 
you." My wife introduced Sarah Pugh to him as 
one of their Friends, when he said, " Don't say 
any thing about that ; thou touches me in a ten- 
der spot ; I remember thee with affection in Balti- 
more, in 1820." His brother Josiah wished to be 
very kind, but he seemed to feel it his place to stand 
guard on the walls of his Israel, watching on either 
side, in order, if possible, to prevent inroads. 

By an invitation from Robert Forster, we visited 
the Borough Road School, where Joseph Lancaster 
first introduced the monitorial system of instruction. 
The department for boys was well conducted, and 
their education extended to some of the higher 
branches ; while that for girls was limited to the ru- 
diments of learning, with sewing. This inequality 
was remarked upon to R. Forster and the teachers, 
and the obligation urged to give to both sexes an 
equal opportunity for instruction and elevation. The 
idea prevails very generally, and has far too much 
influence in the public schools in England, that such 
an education as will quahfy the children to become 



40 

good servants, is all that is necessary or useful ; and 
a small portion, they seem to think, is sufficient to fit 
the girls for that station. 

We also visited several of the national schools in 
London, and other places ; and were gratified with 
the assurance given us that there was an increasing 
attention paid to the important subject of education. 
But a knowledge of the advantages that would result 
from a liberal diffusion of learning to all classes of 
the people, has not reached the Parliament of Eng- 
land, if we may judge from the fact that it appro- 
priated seventy thousand pounds to build a new sta- 
ble or riding house for the Queen, and at the same 
time only ten thousand pounds for the promotion of 
general education. 

R. Forster kindly sent us copies of the books used 
at the Borough Road School, some of which we have 
found interesting and useful. In a note received 
from him, after we left London, he thus expresses 
himself: 

" I am glad to hear that you have thus far enjoyed your 
tour in England ; it was much my desire that you should do 
^o. It occasioned me many a painful thought, when we met 
day after day in London, that we were divided upon some vi- 
tally important truths, and hence that we could not, in matters 
of religion, feel that fellowship that I would gladly have che'- 
rished. I longed for a little open conversation with thee, and 
if I had been more honest to my feelings, perhaps it would 
have presented. My dear friend, I desire to invite thee, in a 
meek and teachable spirit, and with earnest prayer, to inquire 
into the Scriptural doctrine of salvation by Christ, and see if 
thou canst not trace out that precious truth, that He is one 
with the Father, and that it is His blood alone that cleanseth 



41 

from sin. These doctrines have ever been accepted and taught 
in the Society of Friends ; they are not comprehended in the 
will and vi^isdom of man, but as he yields to a meek and teach- 
able spirit, God reveals his truths. Excuse my offering these 
remarks, be assured I do it in Christian love." 

On our return to London, R. Forster invited us to 
his house at Tottenham, when I had a free conver- 
sation with him on the subject of his note. 

We were twice, by invitation, at Dr. Bowrmg's, 
and highly enjoyed these visits to him and his inte- 
resting family. He has travelled much in the Eastern 
countries, and observed the manners and customs of 
the inhabitants ; a knowledge of which, he thinks, in- 
creases the beauty and force of many parts of the 
Scriptures ; for instance, "Behold the lilies of the 
field," &c.; he says the lily of that country grows to 
the height of several {qqI, and the color is more bril- 
liant and gorgeous than any flower he has ever seen. 
He showed us a number of relics, taken out of one 
of the pyramids of Egypt, that had recently been 
opened, some of which he presented to us. 

Doctor Bowrinor was a near neisi;hbor and in- 
timate friend of Jeremy Bentham, whose cha- 
racter he holds in hicrh esteem. Bentham made 
him his executor, of which trust he is in every 
way worthy. He is well known as an excellent 
writer ; some of his poetical productions are much 
esteemed. He possesses a superior and highly cul- 
tivated intellect, and an amount of general intelli- 
gence rarely found in one individual. He is distin- 
guished for his liberal and benevolent feelings, and is 

much beloved by a large circle of friends. It is said 

4* 



42 

that he is well acquainted wrth more than twenty 
different languages ; and is frequently employed by 
the British government in making negotiations with 
other nations. 

We there met with Charles Pelham Villiers, the lead- 
ing advocate in Parliament, for the modification or re- 
peal of their corn laws, who made many inquiries as to 
the effect of such a measure on our country. He is 
also an advocate for free trade, and said that the United 
States is better situated for setting the example 
than any other nation; and expressed a hope that we 
might ere long see, that our true interest consists in 
holding out the olive branch on this subject to other 
nations, which he thinks would be reciprocated ; and 
thus one great cause of war be removed, and the 
enormous expense of armies and navies be greatly re- 
duced, if not wholly saved. 

While in London, we received much attention from 
Wm. H. Ashurst, a lawyer of eminence, and his fa- 
mily, whose residence is at Muswell Hill, five miles 
from the city. He took an active part in favor of the 
change that has been effected in the postage on letters 
and papers. A pamphlet written by him, setting 
forth the advantages that would result from the al- 
teration, was extensively circulated. At his house 
we met with Wm. and Mary Howitt, who were 
on their way to Germany. It was very pleasant 
to have this opportunity of forming an acquaintance 
with these interesting and estimable individuals, so ex- 
tensively and favorably known in the literary world. 
Before they left the country, W. Howitt addressed 



43 

the following letter to my wife, respecting the exclu- 
sion of women from the Convention. 

LoNDOis-, June 37th, 1840. 
Dear Friend : 

I snatch the few last minutes of a very hurried time before 
embarking for Germany, to express to you and your fellow de- 
legates the sense I have of your unworthy reception in this 
country, which has grown on me for the last week extremely ; 
even amid the overwhelming pressure of arrangements, inevita- 
ble on quitting London for a considerable stay abroad. Mary 
and myself greatly regret that we had left our home before we 
had the opportunity of seeing you, or we should have had the 
sincerest pleasure in welcoming you here to spend at least one 
day of quiet, as pleasant as that w^hich we spent with you at 
our worthy friend Mr. Ashurst's at Muswell Hill. I regret 
still more that my unavoidable absence from towa prevented 
my making part of the Convention, as nothing should have 
hindered me from stating there, in the plainest terms, my opi- 
nion of the real grounds on which you were excluded. 

It is pitiable that you were excluded on the plea of being 
women ; but it is disgusting that, under that plea, you were 
actually excluded as heretics. That is the real ground of your 
exclusion, and it ought to have been at once proclaimed and 
exposed by the liberal members of the Convention ; but I be- 
lieve they were not aware of the fact. I heard of the circum- 
stance of your exclusion at a distance, and immediately said — 
"Excluded on the ground that they are women 1" No, that 
is not the real cause — there is something behind. Who and 
what are these female delegates 1 Are they orthodox in reli- 
gion 1 The answer was, " No, they are considered to be of 
the Hicksite party of Friends." My reply was, " That is 
enough — there lies the real cause, and there needs no other. 
The influential Friends in the Convention would never for a 
moment tolerate their presence there, if they could prevent it. 
They hate them, because they have dared to call in question 
their sectarian dogmas and assumed authority; and they have 
taken care to brand them in the eyes of the Calvinistic Dissen- 
ters, who form another large and influential portion of the 



44 

Convention, as Unitarians — in their eyes the most odious of 
heretics." 

But what a miserable spectacle is this ! The '<■ World's 
Convention" converting itself into the fag-end of the yearl}'- 
meeting of the Society of Friends ! That Convention, met 
from various countries and climates to consider how it shall 
best advance the sacred cause of humanity — of the freedom of 
the race, independent of caste or color, immediately falls the 
victim of bigotry, and one of its first acts is, to establish a caste 
of sectarian opinion, and to introduce color into the very soul ! 
Had I not seen, of late years, a good deal of the spirit which 
now rules the Society of Friends, my surprise would have 
been unbounded at seeing them argue for the exclusion of wo- 
' men from a public body, as women. But nothing which they 
do now surprises me. They have in this case, to gratify their 
wretched spirit of intolerance, at once abandoned one of the 
most noble and most philosophical of the established principles 
of their own Society. That Society claims, and claims justly, 
to be the first Christian body which has recognized the great 
Christian doctrine, that there is no sex iisr souls — that male 
and female are all one in Christ Jesus. They were Fox, and 
Penn, and the first giants of the Society, who dared, in the face 
of the whole world's prejudices, to place woman in her first 
rank, — to recognize and maintain her moral and intellectual 
equality. It was this Society which thus gave to woman her 
inalienable rights — her true liberty ; which restored to her the 
exercise of mind, and the capacity to exhibit before man, her 
assumed ancient lord and master, the highest qualities of the 
human heart and understanding — discretion, sound counsel, 
sure sagacity, mingled with feminine delicacy, and that beau- 
tiful, innate modesty, which avails more to restrain its posses- 
sor within the bounds of prudence and usefulness, than all the 
laws and customs of corrupt society. It was this Society which, 
at once fearless in its confidence in woman's goodness and 
sense of propriety, gave to its female portion its ov/n Meetings 
of Discipline — meetings of civil discussion, and transaction of 
actual and various business. It was this Society which did 
more — which permitted its women, in the face of a great apos- 
tolic injunction, to stand forth in its churches and preach the 



45 



gospel. It has in fact sent them out, armed with the authority 
of its certificates, to the very ends of the earth, to preach in 
public — to visit and persuade in private. And what has been 
the consequence 1 Have the women put their faith and phi- 
losophy to shame 1 Have they disgraced themselves or the 
Society which has confided in them 1 Have they proved by 
their follies, their extravagances, their unwomanly boldness and 
want of a just sense of decorum, that these great men were 
wrong ] On the contrary, I will venture to say, and I have 
seen something of all classes, that there is not in the whole ci- 
vilized world, a body of women to be found, of the same num- 
bers, who exhibit more modesty of manner and delicacy of 
mind than the ladies of the Society of Friends ; and few who 
equal them in sound sense and dignity of charactei*. There 
can be no question, that the recognition of the moral and intel- 
lectual equality of the most lovely and interesting portion of 
our Society has tended, and that very materially, to raise them 
greatly in value, as wives, as bosom friends, and domestic 
counsellors, whose inestimable worth is only discovered in times 
of trial and perplexity. 

And here have gone the little men of the present day, and 
have knocked down, in the face of the world, all that their 
mighty ancestors, <' in this respect, had built up !" If they are 
at all consistent, they must carry out their new principle, and 
sweep with it through the ancient constitution of their own so- 
ciety. They must at once put down meetings of discipline 
amongst their women — they must call home such as are in 
distant countries, or are traversing this, preaching and visiting 
families. There must be no more appointments of women to 
meet committees of men, to deliberate on matters of great im- 
portance to the Society. But the fact, my dear friend, is, that 
bigotry is never consistent, except that it is always narrow, al- 
ways ungracious, and always, under plea of uniting God's 
people, scattering them one from another, and rendering them 
weak as water. 

I want to know what religious opinions have to do with a 
" World's Convention." Did you meet to settle doctrines, or 
conspire against slavery 1 Many an august council has at- 
tempted to settle doctrines, and in vain ; and you had before 



46 



you a subject so vast, so pressing, so momentous, that in pre- 
sence of its sublimity, any petty jealousy and fancied idea of 
superiority ought to have fallen as dust from the boughs of a 
cedar. You, as delegates, had to meet this awful fact in the 
face, and to consider how it should be grappled with ! how the 
united power of civilized nations should be brought to bear 
upon it! The fact, that, after nearly a century of gradually 
growing and accumulating efforts to put down slavery and the 
slave trade, little has been done — that there are now more slaves 
in the world than ever, and that the slave-trade is far more ex- 
tensive and monstrous than it was when Clarkson raised his 
voice against it, and dedicated himself body and soul to its ex- 
tinction — that is a fact, which, if the men who now take the 
lead in warring on the evil were truly great men, it would si- 
lence in them every other feeling than that of its enormity ; 
and the godlike resolve that all hands and all hearts should be 
raised before Heaven, and united in its spirit, to chase this 
spreading villany from the earth speedily and for ever. But 
men, however benevolent, cannot be great men if they are bi- 
gots. Bigots are like the peasants v^^ho build their cabins in 
the mighty palaces of the ancient Csesars. The Ctesars who 
raised the vast fabrics are gone, and the power in which they 
raised them is gone with them. Poor and little men raise their 
huts within those august palace walls, and fancy themselves 
the inhabitants of the palaces themselves. So in the mighty 
fane of Christianity, bigots and sectarians are continually rear- 
ing their little cabins of sects and parties, and would fain per- 
suade us, while they fill their own narrow tenements, that they 
fill the glorious greatness of Christianity itself! It is surely 
high time that, after eighteen hundred years of Christ's reign, 
we should be prepared to allow each other to hold an opinion on 
the most important of all subjects to ourselves. It is surely time 
that w^e opened our eyes sutficiently to see what is so plain in the 
gospel — the sublime difference between the spirit of Christ and 
the spirit of his disciples, when they fain would have made a 
higot of him. " We saw men doing miracles in thy name — 
and we forbade them." " Forbid them not, for they who are 
not against us are with us." It is not by doctrines that Christ 
said that his disciples should be known, but by Xheix fruits — 



47 

and by the greatest of all fruits — love. You, dear friend, and 
those noble women to whom I address myself when addressing 
you, have shown in your own country the grand Christian 
testimonial of love to mankind in the highest degree. You 
have put your lives in your hands, for the sake of man's free- 
dom from caste, color and mammon ; and the greatest dis- 
grace that has of late years befallen this country is, that you 
have been refused admittance as delegates to the Convention, 
met ostensibly to work that very work for which you have so 
generously labored and freely suffered. 

The Convention has not merely insulted you, but those who 
sent you. It has testified that the men of America are at least 
far ahead of us in their opinion of the discretion and usefulness 
of women. But above all, this act of exclusion has shown how 
far the Society of Friends is fallen from its ancient state of 
greatness, and catholic nobleness of spirit. 

But my time is gone. I have not said one-half, one-tenth, 
one-hundredth part of what I could say to you and to your 
companions on this subject ; but of this be assured, time and 
your own delegators will do you justice. The true Christians 
in all ages were the heretics of the time ; and this I say, not 
because I believe exactly as you do, for, in truth, I neither 
know, nor desire to know, exactly, how far we think alike. 
All that I know, or want to know, is, that you have shown the 
grand mark of Christian truth — love to mankind. 

I have heard the noble Garrison blamed that he has not taken 
his place in the Convention, because you, his fellow^ delegates, 
were excluded. I, on the contrary, honor him for his conduct. 
In mere worldly wisdom he might have entered the Conven- 
tion, and there entered his protest against the decision — but in 
at once refusing to enter, where you, his fellow delegates, were 
shut out, he has entered a far nobler protest, not in the mere 
Convention, but in the world at large. I honor the lofty prin- 
ciple of that true champion of humanity, and shall always 
recollect with dehght, the day Mary and I spent with you and 
him. 

I must apologise for this most hasty, and, I fear, illegible 
scrawl, and with our kind regards and best wishes for your 
safe return to your native country, and for many years of ho- 



48 

notable labor there, for the truth and freedom,! beg to subscribe 
myself, most sincerely, your friend, 

William Howitt. 

At our friend Ashhurst's we also met with Robert 
Owen, who afterwards called upon us at our lodgings, 
and talked of his visionary schemes to reform the 
world, which his large benevolence and hope flat- 
ter him into a belief will soon be generally adopted. 
He appears to be a man of kind feelings, and spends 
his time in vainly endeavoring to convince mankind 
that his social system will make them better and hap- 
pier. It affords him pleasure to talk about it, and 
anticipate its speedy adoption. I considered it an 
innocent speculation, and did not see why any one 
should deem it worth while to oppose him, for he has 
not such powers of mind as will enable him to 
bring about any great change, or accomplish any 
mighty work. 

After spending about four weeks in London, we 
went to Birmingham, a distance of one hundred and 
ten milQs, by rail-road, where v/e remained a few 
days at the house of our kind friend Wm. Boultbee. 
We visited several of the manufacturing establish- 
ments, and were informed that their business was 
much depressed ; the United States being their best 
foreign market, many inquired with apparent anxiety, 
as to the probability of an early revival of demand 
from that quarter. 

A Catholic priest, Thomas M. M'Donald, whom 
we had seen in London, with a kindness and liberal- 
ity worthy of example, tendered us the use of a large 



49 

room for a meeting, which we declined accepting, as 
a more convenient place was offered for tlie purpose, 
in the basement of a new Unitarian chapel. This 
meeting was well attended, and the people appeared 
satisfied with the views and doctrines they heard. 
We had evidence that this opportunity, as well as 
others, was not without effect ; a number of inquiring 
minds signified their unity, and some acknowledged 
the opening of religious truth on their understandings 
and hearts in a light they never before experienced. 
These were not among the orthodox Friends ; they 
are fast bound to their new creeds, and are becoming 
more and more formal in their worship. 

During our stay, in company with W. Boultbee, 
I went to a coal pit, ten miles distant, and being de- 
sirous of going into it, the foreman readily consented 
to conduct me. We were lowered down a perpen- 
dicular shaft, by a steam engine, to the depth of seven 
hundred and twenty feet ; on reaching the bottom, 
I followed my guide, each having a candle in hand, 
along the drifts for nearly half a mile. In several 
places miners were at work, who, on being told a 
stranger had come to see them, replied, " Very glad 
to see the gentleman, shall be happy to drink his 
health." Thirty men and boys are employed in get- 
ling out the coal. The mining is continued day and 
night, by two sets of workmen ; the coal is raised 
only during the day ; it is hauled to the shaft on 
small wagons, running on rail- ways laid in the drifts, 
and drawn by horses, of which five were kept in this 
pit. On our return we passed a beautiful and ro- 

5 



50 

mantic spot, once the residence of the poet Shen- 
stone. 

I called upon Samuel Lloyd, a wealthy banker, 
who has for many years been a minister in the So- 
ciety of Friends, but had withdrawn about a year 
previously, and joined the Plymouth Brethren; I 
found him, as I thought, very outward and superfi- 
cial in his views. Speaking of a lecture that was to 
be delivered that evening in the town hall, on capital 
punishment, by George Harris, he said, " My mind 
is made up on that subject." Wishing to understand 
his meaning, 1 inquired how, or which way his mind 
was made up ? Taking from his pocket a small Bible, 
he replied, " This book settles the question." "Yes, 
but which way does it settle the question?" " Whoso 
sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be 
shed." But that, I intimated, was not under the 
Christian dispensation, which teaches the forgiveness 
of our enemies. Slapping his hand on the book, he 
replied, " Here it is in plain words, that's enough for 
me, I go no further ;" and opening the volume add- 
ed, " O the blessedness of this book ! O the blessed- 
ness of this book ! I desire above all things to under- 
stand it, and to be governed by it." 

While in Birmingham we met with George Har- 
ris, a Unitarian minister of Glasgow. W^e were glad 
of this opportunity to make his acquaintance. His 
fame as the eloquent vindicator of his injured fellow- 
men, had reached our country. During our stay we 
attended a lecture delivered by him on " Capital 
Punishment," which was replete with sound argu- 



51 

ment, having for its basis humanity and truth. The 
speaker furnished most valuable statistics, and facts 
of great importance to the advocate of the inviola- 
bility of human life. From twenty-five hundred to 
three thousand persons were present. It was en- 
couraging to hear so good a cause ably managed, 
and urged upon the consideration of his audience, 
with an earnestness and eloquence rarely equalled. 
The great attention bestowed by such a large collec- 
tion of hearers, was an evidence that the labor of 
the lecturer was not in vain. 

From Birmingham, we went to Matlock, in Derby- 
shire, a beautiful and romantic place, famous for its 
spar and caves, one of which we visited. Conducted 
by a lad, and each provided with a candle, we en- 
tered a narrow descending passage for some distance, 
to a large open space, say fifteen feet wide, twenty 
feet long, and ten feet high ; passing through which 
into another narrow passage, leading into a second 
opening, and so on till we reached the fifth room, 
about one thousand feet from the entrance. Small 
portions of lead ore are to be seen in some places, but 
not in sufficient quantity to be worth getting out. The 
openings to these caves, are about half-way up the 
side of a high hill, at the base of which, are several 
large springs of petrifying water. 

From Matlock, passing through Buxton, a place 
much frequented by fashionable invalids, on account 
of its v/arm springs, we proceeded to Liverpool, paid 
William Rathbone and family another pleasant visit, 
and thence by steamboat to Dublin, one hundred 



52 

miles across the Irish sea. Most of the persons on 
board were deck passengers ; the wind blowing fresh, 
and the water being rough, many were very sea-sick. 
Exposed as they were to the cold wind, night air, and 
some rain and spray from the dashing of the waves 
against the vessel, their situation appeared to be ex- 
ceedingly uncomfortable ; we pitied but could not re- 
lieve them. 

Most of the aristocracy of Ireland reside in Dub- 
lin, and spend much of their time in riding and visit- 
ing. Many of the streets being wide and M'Adam- 
ised, it is pleasant and easy to ride over them for an 
airing. The contrast between the rich and poor was 
more striking than in any other place we visited. 
Although the carriages and equipage were moderate, 
compared with those which we had seen in London, yet 
the squalid appearance, and the patched and tattered 
garments, of the numerous beggars at all times to be 
seen in every part of the city, showed a state of poverty 
that we had not before witnessed ; and a stranger with 
any benevolence of feeling, would soon have his pock- 
ets lightened of all the copper they contained. The 
poor are not, however, generally importunate, but so- 
licit alms with mildness and modesty; they never 
knock or ring at the doors. Middle-aged women 
mostly have a babe in their arms, and not unfre- 
quently two, which they call twins ; they are said to 
be very kind to each other, in lending their children 
for this purpose. 

Much of the labor is performed by women ; they 
work in the fields side by side with men ; generally 



53 

bare-footed and bare-headed, while the men have 
shoes and hats ; and this does not outrage English 
feeling or delicacy. It is only on moral and reli- 
gious ground that woman must not assert her equali- 
ty, nor have it advocated for her. In the political 
arena, she is not only equal, but head, ruler. Queen. 

It may be asked whether all this poverty, filth, and 
degradation, is not as bad as our slavery? I am 
fully prepared to say no ; for our slavery is all this, 
and more. There, amidst all, they have comparatively 
good schools, where the poor can and do send their 
children for instruction ; hence a better race is com- 
ing up. They have also their abundant places of 
worship, as well as their " domestic missions," of 
which many avail themselves, and are benefited. 
They have their children around them, and find their 
mud-wall and ground-floor cabin to be a home for 
them, where their privacy and enjoyment may not 
be invaded. They have some redress for injuries by 
law, as well as in the sympathies of those to whom 
they may represent their wrongs ; they may heg, and 
of that they appear not to be ashamed. In a word, 
they are free, and can go and come as they please, 
to some extent at least, as the crowded steerage of 
the ships to America bears witness. 

In many cases, our slaves in the South have no 
clothing at all allowed their children while young, 
and that of adults is often as bad as bad can be. 
Our slaves cannot be taught to read ; have no redress 
for injuries ; have nothing they can call their own — 

except their sufferings and sorrows — not even them- 

5# 



54 

selves or their children. In short, ours are slaves, 
to be driven about at any time and all times, at the 
will of another ; the law considers them as mere 
chattels, and they are treated accordingly. One class 
is oppressed and poor; kings, nobles, and priests, liv- 
ing by their hard labor. The other is robbed of every 
thing, and we living in part on the spoils. The wrongs 
of both need reparation, and both will get it. 

The generous, warm-hearted hospitality extended 
to us, during the week we remained in Dublin, will 
long be remembered with pleasure. 

In company with our friend James Haughton, we 
attended a meeting of the Temperance Society, held 
in one of the rooms of the Exchange, which was 
large, and composed mostly of the poorer class ; the 
spirit that was manifested in promoting the object of 
the association was cheering and encouraging. Not 
many of the rich take much active interest in this 
cause ; our friend J. H., and a few others, are honor- 
able exceptions ; they are unwearied in their labors 
to improve the condition of the people. 

In some instances we heard persons bestowing much 
praise upon " Father Mathew," for the great good 
he was doing to the poor, in bringing them to habits 
of temperance ; while the eulogists were at the same 
time sipping glass after glass of wine, and express- 
ing their likes and dislikes of the different kinds. 
The time, we may hope, is not far distant, when a cor- 
rect public opinion will show to the wine-bibbers and 
moderate drinkers, that they are the greatest stum- 
bling blocks to the progress of a cause so eminently 
calculated to benefit mankind. 



55 

Our friend, Richard Allen, accompanied us on a 
visit to the National Schools, which were in commo- 
dious buildings, well filled with scholars, and ap- 
parently well conducted. He also took us in his 
jaunting car, (a vehicle peculiar to Ireland,) to the 
Mendicity, which is an institution supported by vo- 
luntary contributions, where many hundreds daily 
resort to obtain their meals ; we saw them giving out 
what they call stir-about, (oat-meal mush,) which is 
eaten in the house. Some work is also provided, 
but those who have their own work can do it at the 
establishment. 

Wishing to visit the parts of the city in which the 
many poor we saw in the streets resided, our friend 
Richard D. Webb conducted us to the Liberties. The 
buildings were of brick, but very old and dilapidated, 
and poor indeed must those be who occupy them. 

Our friend Dr. Hutton, of London, having given 
us letters of introduction to his parents, residing near 
Dublin, we availed ourselves of an early opportunity 
to visit this interesting couple, who seemed to be en- 
joying a cheerful old age, as the result of a well-spent 
life. Their handsome and highly cultivated garden, 
with its abundant vegetables, flowers, and delicious 
gooseberries, showed that the hand of industry had its 
reward. At their house we met with Dr. Drummond, 
a distinguished Unitarian minister, well known as an 
author. He appeared to be a man of enlarged benevo- 
lence, liberal in his views, and charitable in his feelings 
toward those who differ from him in religious opinion; 



56 

on parting with him, he presented us with copies of 
some of his works. 

On First-day morning we attended the meeting of 
Friends. About three hundred persons were present ; 
after a long ^silence, my wife gave an exhortation, 
occupying ten or fifteen minutes, which was quietly 
listened to ; one Friend told me that he expected 
every minute she v/ould have been requested to sit 
down ; but I think from the stillness and attention 
that was given, they heard willingly. She was fol- 
lowed by a prayer, from the only minister of that 
meeting, a woman, that they might be preserved 
from a state of lukewarmness ; which was in ac- 
cordance with what had been previously expressed. 

If the minds of Friends in that city, as well as 
some other places in the United Kingdom, could be 
divested of the prejudice which misrepresentation has 
so strongly fastened upon them, in relation to our 
Friends, I cannot but believe that many would view 
us in a different light from that which they now do. 

To effect a change would require much time and 
labor ; for it is surprising to see how generally and 
strongly the impression exists, that we have gone off 
and left the Society of Friends. One Friend asked 
us whether we had ever been members of the Society. 
The change of opinion, which has so often been the 
result of personal intercourse and examination, by 
some who have removed to this country, shows what 
might be the case with many others, if free from the 
trammels that now bind them. But the truth would be 
far more difficult of dissemination in that country than 



57 

in this ; because of the influence of the rulers, who 
are not willing to listen to it themselves, nor to per- 
mit others to hear it. 

Several persons have withdrawn from the meet- 
ings in Dublin, and some other places, and are called 
Jacobites; from Joshua Jacobs, who, a few years ago, 
appeared acceptably in the ministry, but from some 
cause, which I did learn, he became dissatisfied with 
Friends, and they with him, which resulted in a dis- 
ownment. We called to see him, but he had gone 
to the country ; his wife, after we had informed her 
who we were, and made a few inquiries, put a stop 
to our conversation, by putting her hand to her 
mouth and saying, " I do not feel that any thing is 
given me to say." They assert that they are Friends, 
and those who call themselves so are not, because 
they have departed from the doctrines, practices, and 
simplicity of the Society. 

The condition of the people of Ireland is rapidly 
improving under the Temperance Fveformation, which 
has spread so extensively through the influence of 
" Father Mathew." The improvement in Dublin, as 
well as in many other places, in the habits of the 
poorer classes, within two years, we were inform- 
ed, was strikingly manifest. Many of the Pub- 
licans, as they are called, have been obliged to 
abandon the selling of liquor, in consequence of 
the falling off of customers ; some of the shops 
are shut up, some turned into Temperance gro- 
cery stores, and others into chop-houses. The de- 
mand for schools has greatly increased, and more 
attention is now being paid to general education in 



58 

Ireland, than in England. The veneration in which 
the great " Apostle of Temperance" is held, is truly 
wonderful. Many go to him to be cured of bodily 
diseases of various kinds, and notwithstanding his 
assurance of his inability to do them any good in 
this respect, further than his urging upon them a 
change in their habits and mode of Jiving will effect 
it, yet many believe themselves cured or greatly re- 
lieved by the laying on of his hands. 

The Temperance Reformation must, in the nature 
of things, produce great improvement in the moral 
and physical condition of this oppressed people. They 
are looked upon and treated by England, as a con- 
quered nation. Manufactures and foreign commerce 
have been discouraged, by laws and restrictions, un- 
til both are much decreased. It seems to be the po- 
licy of England to make the people of Ireland con- 
sumers of her manufactures, and agricultural pro- 
ducers for her operatives. Most of the large landed 
proprietors reside in England, and draw many mil- 
lions annually in rent from the hard earnings of the 
laborer. The law for the collection of rents is all on 
the side of the landlord ; many of whom claim their 
inheritance as heirs of those who aided in conquering 
Ireland, when large tracts of land were confiscated, 
and bestowed upon those who assisted in reducing 
the Irish to submission, or were favorites of the king. 
This is a source of much dissatisfaction and uneasi- 
ness to the people of Ireland, as most of the descen- 
dants of those whom they consider the rightful owners 
of these domains, are living in poverty. Various 



59 

means and associations are now being resorted to, for 
the purpose of bringing about a change in the arti- 
cles of union, and an amelioration of the laws. The 
hand of English power has been so strong on Ireland, 
that it is not strange the oppressed should look 
about, to see what will release them from the grasp. 
From Dublin we rode to Belfast, on the outside of 
the stage-coach, distance 102 English miles. At 
most of the stations for changing horses, persons 
were waiting the arrival of the coach, to solicit alms 
of the passengers. At Drogheda we were literally 
surrounded by applicants for charity, who with mo- 
dest and suppliant tones, portrayed their poverty and 
suffering. The general appearance of the country 
differs considerably from that of England. Instead 
of the handsome hedges, interspersed with trees, and 
comparatively comfortable residences of the English 
farmer, we now saw small mud cabins with thatched 
roofs, scattered thickly over the country, the domicils 
of the Irish peasant ; the fields divided by ditches, 
and for miles scarcely a tree ; the whole bearing the 
impress of degradation and poverty. In the north of 
Ireland, which is principally settled by the Scotch, 
the general appearance of the country is much im- 
proved, and similar to what we afterwards saw in 
Scotland. The cottages are of stone or brick, mostly 
white-washed, which gives them an air of neatness, 
cleanliness, and comfort, that the others do not pos- 
sess. In this section of the country flax is cultivated 
extensively, and the manufacture of linen is carried 
on to a considerable extent. The same laws, which 



60 

have in other parts almost annihilated manufacturing, 
are not sufficient to repress Scottish energy. 

Wm. Bell, the Editor of " The Irish Friend," 
called upon us soon after we arrived in Belfast, and 
gave us an invitation to breakfast with him the fol- 
lowing morning, which we accepted, and were pleased 
with him and his family. He is a man of intelligence 
and kind feelings, and strongly orthodox in his opi- 
nions on religious subjects. He made many inquiries 
about America, having had some prospect of remov- 
ing to the United States. 

From Belfast we crossed in a steamer to Glasgow, 
in Scotland. The scenery on the river Clyde is very 
beautiful. From its mouth, to some miles above 
Greenock, the land is high and broken, interspersed 
with cultivated fields, and neat white cottages. About 
ten miles below Glasgow, the river becomes narrow^, 
and the banks on both sides walled, to prevent their 
being washed away by the constant passing of steam 
boats. The country is level and highly cultivated; al- 
together, the different and ever-varying views, we 
thought the most beautiful that we had seen. Glas- 
gow is a city of considerable business ; extensive 
manufactures of fine muslin are carried on. The 
streets are mostly wide and straight, and the houses 
built of stone, four to six stories high. A common stair- 
case on the back part, leading from a court or alley, 
serves for entrance to the different stories, or flats, as 
they call them, each of which is let or " feud" by 
itself. So that it is usual for two, three, or more fa- 
milies to occupy one house ; yet they are entirely se- 



61 

parate, except the common stairway, ihe steps of 
which are usually of stone. 

The day after our arrival being First-day, we at- 
tended the meeting of Friends, thirty-eight persons 
were present ; two of whom were ministers from 
Yorkshire, brothers, by the name of Foster ; one of 
them preached at some length on human depravity 
and the atonement, remembering, however, somewhat 
of ancient doctrine, and acknowledging the influence 
of the Spirit of Christ, and the necessity of taking 
up the cross ; the other supplicated that we might be 
brought to the right faith ; a dependence on the pro- 
pitiatory sacrifice to restore our fallen nature, &c. 
These opportunities of again hearing this scheme of 
salvation, made me rejoice that so large a portion 
of our Friends resisted the attempt to engraft it on 
our simple stock. I deplore the fact that so large a 
proportion of professing Christians are preaching up 
this outward salvation, instead of directing men to 
Christ within themselves, and giving evidence that 
they know him and love him, by exhibiting the fruits 
of his Spirit. 

Sarah Pugh and Abby Kimber, who had been our 
companions, and who added much to the interest of 
our travels, from their general and intimate know- 
ledge of history, &c., left us in London and joined 
H. B. Stanton and wife in a visit to Paris. Hearing 
they had returned, and were at Edinburgh, we took 
coach for that place, forty-two miles distant, and 
found them at the house of George Thompson, so 
pleasantly situated, and delightfully entertained, that 

6 



62 

they seemed in no hurry to leave. The city of Edin- 
burgh is built on three parallel hills ; on the west end 
of the middle one the celebrated Castle is situated ; 
inaccessible except on one side, which is strongly 
fortified. This eminence affords a fine view of the 
city and surrounding country. At the other end of 
the street, leading from the Castle, is Holy Rood 
House, once the residence of the kings of Scotland, 
which is kept in a good state of repair. Some of the 
remains of antiquity, the private apartment of the un- 
fortunate Queen Mary, with its crumbling furniture, 
and even the stain of Rizzio's blood, are shown to 
strangers with great veneration. The new part of 
Edinburg, which stands on the north of the three 
ridges, is handsome ; the streets are wide and straight, 
and the buildings more uniform in their external ap- 
pearance, than in any place we had seen. The con- 
trast between the new and old part is very striking ; 
in the latter the houses are dilapidated, and many of 
them six to eight stories high. The house in which John 
Knox resided was pointed out, projecting a few feet 
beyond the adjoining one ; from a corner window 
in the second story, it is said, he used to preach to 
assembled multitudes in the street. 

We rode out of town a mile or two, to call upon 
our friends George Combe and wife, who received us 
cordially. It was no small gratification to receive 
the welcome of those who had contributed so much 
to our pleasure and instruction, in our own country. 

Accompanied by our kind friend, George Thomp- 
son, we left Edinburgh to return to Glasgow, through 



63 

some of the lakes, and over the highlands of Scot- 
land. Taking steamboat, we passed up the river 
Forth to Stirling, where is another of the Castles, 
situated on one of those isolated and almost inacces- 
sible rocky heights, for which that country is so re- 
markable. From Stirling we proceeded by post- 
coaches to Loch Katrine ; here we employed two 
boatmen, and were rowed the length of this water, 
ten miles, passing the small islands, and places cele- 
brated by Walter Scott, in his " Lady of the Lake." 
One of our boatmen had been employed by this au- 
thor, in his visits to those scenes, while writing that 
work. He related many incidents that were amus- 
ing and interesting, and could, I believe, repeat the 
contents of that volume, answering our questions by 
copious recitations, much to the delight of our com- 
panions. All the ponies kept to convey passengers 
to Loch Lomond, five miles distant, were on the 
other side. After taking some refreshment of milk, 
and oat-meal bannocks, we prepared for our walk, 
(the men carrying our baggage,) which we accom- 
plished without much fatigue; the volubility of our 
guide, and the constantly varying highland scenery 
beguiled the time and distance. We passed down 
Loch Lomond, in a small steamboat, twenty miles ; 
on the side of this lake is Ben Lomond, the loftiest 
peak of the highlands. This little excursion was 
rendered doubly interesting by the company and 
kind attentions of our friend, George Thompson. 
Our boatman, as well as others we met in the 
highlands, used a language I had not before heard. 



64 

which, on inquny, I found to be the GseHc ; it is in 
common use ; and is the first language the children 
of the highlands learn. 

At a meeting in Glasgow, called for the purpose of 
hearing George Thompson speak on the subject of 
British India, a large number of the Chartists at- 
tended, and insisted upon being heard in relation to 
the wrongs and oppression under which they, their 
wives and children, were suffering, before the wrongs 
of those who were many thousand miles off were 
discussed. Although they were out of order, the 
meeting being for a specific object, yet we felt much 
sympathy and interest in their behalf; my wife re- 
quested, verbally to the chairman, and by a note, to 
have the liberty of addressing the audience a few 
minutes, but it was denied her. A colored man, 
Charles L. Remond, of Newport, Rhode Island, was, 
however, listened to with attention, as he had also 
been in London and other places ; showing that while 
they have a strong prejudice against listening to the 
expostulations or exhortations of women, they have 
not the unholy prejudice against color, that so cru- 
elly oppresses that portion of our fellow-citizens in 
this country. 

George Harris, minister of the Unitarian Chapel, 
to whom we had been introduced when in Birmino"- 
ham, being absent from Glasgow while we were 
there, in a letter addressed to us says : 

" I am happy in offering you the use of my chapel and 
pulpit, either on Sunday evening, or any evening of the fol- 
lowing week you may choose to address the people, on slavery, 



65 

education, or our common faith in God and man, and our Sa- 
viour. The committee of our chapel likewise unanimously 
offer the place of worship for these purposes to you." 

After giving directions to whom to apply, &c., he 
thus concludes his letter : 

" Again expressing my deep regret, that I have not been 
allowed to welcome you personally to Glasgow, and with 
earnest prayer for your continued health, and usefulness in the 
great work, to which you have in so truly Christian spirit de- 
voted yourself, I am your faithful friend." 

This offer was accepted, and a meeting held on 
the evening of First-day ; the house was crowded, 
and we had abundant reason to believe that the op- 
portunity was satisfactory to those present. But the 
small handful of Friends in that city did not suffer 
so good an opportunity of disclaiming us to pass, and 
accordingly caused to be published in one or more 
of the public papers, the following communication : 

To the Editor of the Glasgow Argus. 

Respected Friend, — Intimation having been given on the 
8th current, by means of placards extensively posted through- 
out the city, that " on Sabbath first, the 9th inst. Mrs, Lucre- 
tia Mott, a minister of the Society of Friends, Philadelphia, 
would hold a meeting in the Christian Unitarian chapel" — 
and that meeting having, we understand, been numerously at- 
tended by our fellow-citizens, we deem it right, on behalf of 
the Society of Friends residing in Glasgow, to inform the 
public that we hold no religious fellowship with Lucretia 
Mott, nor with the body in the United States (called Hicks- 
ites) to which she belongs ; they not being recognised by the 
Society of Friends in the United Kingdom, nor by those 
Friends with whom we are in connection in America ; and 
that we do not wish to be in any way identified with, or con- 

6* 



66 



sidered responsible for any sentiments that Lucretia Mott may 
have uttered at the meeting above referred to. 
We are respectfully thy friends, 

William Smeal, 
William White, 
JoHis" Maxvtell, 
James Smeal, 
Edward White. 
Glasgow, 12th of Eighth mo., 1840. 

V/e left Glaso-ow on the morning; of the 11th inst. 
and did not see the foreffoinf? document until the dav 
before we were to sail from Liverpool, when I ad- 
dressed the following letter to Wm. Smeal, the only 
one of the signers with whom I was acquainted. 
He had, both in London and Glasgow, manifested a 
feeling of much kindness, and disapproved of the ex- 
clusion of women from the Convention, assuring us 
that in Scotland it would not be so ; but he was mis- 
taken, for in no place did we meet with more secta- 
rian bigotry and prejudice, than in Glasgow. The 
letter to W. Smeal I enclosed to George Harris, for 
him to make what use of it he might think best. He 
had it published in the newspapers. It was as fol- 
lows: 

Liverpool, Eighth mo. 24th, 1840. 
William Smeal, 

Eespected Friend, — After reaching London, a few days 
since, I first heard of a publication in the Glasgow Argus, 
signed by thyself and four others, respecting my wife, and the 
notice of a meeting she had in the Unitarian Chapel, but which 
publication I did not see until this day. Had either of you 
been at the meeting, it is probable you would not have thought 
such a disavowal necessary ; as I distinctly stated to the audi- 
ence, that a division in the Society of Friends had taken place 



67 

in the United States, about twelve years since ; that we be- 
longed to that portion of the division which was not recog- 
nised as Friends by those of this country ; that we claimed, 
however, to be Friends, and were members of the largest por- 
tion of the division in Pennsylvania, (reading a certificate our 
monthly meeting had furnished us,) our number being about 
twenty thousand, and the other side about eight thousand ; 
and the whole number in the United States on our side, nearly 
eighty thousand ; that I mentioned these things in order that 
it might be understood who we were, that no one might be 
deceived, for we did not wish to pass for any thing different 
from what we were. I doubt not but all of the large audience 
fully and clearly understood our position, and could say, on 
seeing your disclaimer, " You might have saved yourself the 
trouble and exposure, for Mr. Mott informed us they were not 
in connection with you." 

Now those who are ignorant of the facts may suppose, from 
your disclaimer, that we wanted to be considered as Friends 
connected with you, and attempted to pass ourselves off as 
such ; which we should be quite as unwilling to do, as you 
would be to be identified with us. I also should be as unwil- 
ling to be responsible for sentiments I heard in your meeting, 
as you seem to be for sentiments you did not hear in the cha- 
pel. 

One difference between us is this. You call yourselves 
Friends, and claim to be such ; whatever our opinion may be 
as to the fact, we do not deny or question your right to call 
yourselves by this name. We also call ourselves Friends, and 
claim to be such ; but you deny iis the right to the name, and 
reproachfully apply the epithet of Hicksites, which we dis- 
claim, it having been used by our opposers in derision. 

You may say that you lament our declension, or departure 
from what you consider and believe to be the doctrines of the 
Society of Friends. We, also, as sincerely lament your de- 
parture from what we consider and believe to be the doctrines 
and practices of the Society ; so that in this respect we stand 
on equal grounds. Of one thing I have had such evidence, as 
fully satisfies me of the fact, that Friends in this country are 
deplorably ignorant of the causes of the division in America, 
and of the relative circumstances of the two parties then or at 



68 

the present time ; and that they cherish a spirit of prejudice 
and bigotry towards us, incompatible with the benign religion 
of Jesus. Of this, however, we do not complain, as you are 
the sufferers ; but we deplore the unchristian conduct this 
leads many into. I am satisfied a difference in opinion on 
doctrine does exist between you and us ; but this does not set- 
tle the question as to which is right or which wrong. I sup- 
pose you believe yourselves right, and holding doctrines in ac- 
cordance with Fox, Penn, Barclay, &c. I fully believe we 
do, and can bring as much evidence to support our views as 
you can. 

What is the ground of warnings given in your yearly meet- 
ing, you verbal and newspaper disclaimers! Are you afraid 
of being robbed of your good name 1 or are your doctrines of 
such an evanescent character, that they are in danger of van- 
ishing before the sunshine of truth 1 Does it not show a want 
of confidence in your principles, or in the solidity and durability 
of your position 1 It is a small matter to us to be judged of 
man, or to have our religious faith called in question, or to be 
charged with worshipping the God of our Fathers after the 
manner called heresy ; all this moves us not. But I grieve at 
the manifestation of a spirit that will deliver a brother up to 
death, as far as the law and customs of the country will allow; 
it is the same which a few years ago imprisoned, burned, and 
hung those who held opinions on religious subjects different 
from those who then possessed the legal power. We do not 
find any charge of immoral conduct brought against those mar- 
tyrs, but holding opinions dangerous to the peace and unity of 
the church ; or more correctly, not holding opinions that were 
deemed essential to salvation. It is easy to be very liberal and 
charitable towards those who believe more than we do ; but 
those who believe less, we are ready enough to denounce he- 
retical, dangerous innovaters, not to be countenanced. When 
will men respect properly the right of private opinion 1 Not 
until they learn that religion consists, not in the assent of the 
mind to any dogma, nor yet in the belief of any mysterious 
proposition of faith, but in visiting the widow and the father- 
less, and keeping ourselves unspotted from the world. 

" I am sick of opinions, I am weary to bear them, my soul 



69 



loathes their frothy food; give me sol.l subslanUal eUg o„- 
give me an honest devoted lover of God and man. It .s 

toe Christians were jndged by their likeness to Chr,st, rather 
han by their notions (opinions) of Christ." It appears to me 
you taL the latter gvou.-d of judgment; I greatly prefer the 

^°ThId intended to say something about the ol,jects of our 
crossing the Atlantic, but my paper is full, and I must sub- 
scribe, thy friend, ^^^^^^ j^^,^.^_ 

Notwithstanding this, and other manifestations of 
a disposition to disavow religious fellowship with us, 
the kindness and courtesy that was abundantly ex- 
tended to us by some Friends, as well as by many 
not of that name, will long be remembered with plea- 
sure. From several persons written testimonials of 
regard were received, from which the following para- 
graphs are extracted. 

.■I shall, I believe, look back through hfe with pleasure, to 
the hours we have recently passed together It has never ap- 
peared to me, that a difrerence in rehgious farth ought to p,e- 
^ ^t a cordial co-operation in works °f '---'™- ;^^;'; * 
reverse; I cannot help regretting that some have thought ar^d 
act d otherwise. But, my dear friend, we must strive to ma^ 
allowance for natural disposition ; the influence of early edu- 
cation, &c., and forgive (as I well know it is thy desire to do) 
he errors r unkindnessSnto which they may betray ; remem- 
lin.forour consolation, that to our own Master we mn 
a 1 stand or fall. Please accept the assurance of my affectionate 
lembrale, and most sincere wishes for the best welfare and 
happiness of you all, and for your continued usefulness in the 

ranse of the slave." , . 

" I am not aware that my intercourse with yon has unset- 
tled any previous opinion which I held upon religious matter , 
but it has surely confirmed my views respecting the unimport- 
a^c of dogmas, in comparison with the ■ weightier matters of 



70 

the law.' I look on creeds and professions with increasing in- 
difference, and on real, substantial, faithful action to a good 
purpose, with additional respect. I am glad that you have 
met with some in these countries, who agree to differ with 
you, whilst they rejoice to have met with you, for your own 
sakes, and the pleasure they have enjoyed in your enlightened 
society, as well as for what you have done and suffered for the 
poor colored man and the slave. Let us forget the points on 
which our respective sects differ, and be thankful that there 
are so many in which we can most cordially agree." 

From a letter received since our return, I make the 
following extract : 

<'I like the spirit and honesty of J. Miller M'Kim's Address 
or letter to the Presbytery very much, although unable to 
judge whether the conclusions which he has come to, are right 
or wrong in themselves. It appears to me that the conclusion 
any honest minded person comes to, on any question in de- 
bate, ('particularly on theological matters, where the premises 
cannot be known,) depends fully as much upon the particular 
constitution of mind of the inquirer, as upon the absolute truth 
or falsehood of the question at issue. Some men are naturally 
prone to the Unitarian, and others to Trinitarian views of re- 
ligion, although both may be equally clear-headed, and equally 
determined to stand by his convictions of the truth. The long- 
headed, reasoning man, will tend to Unitarian views — the 
warm, enthusiastic, poetic-minded man to Trinitarian, which 
appeals to the feelings and the heart, rather than to the rea- 
son or the judgment. 

As to the two parties of professing Friends with you, I think 
neither exactly represents the early Society. You are declared- 
ly Unitarian ; the others, and the Friends here, determinedly 
orthodox. The Friends of George Fox's time were neither. 
They were a mixture from all sects ; and provided the external 
peculiarities, the testimonies against war, an hireling ministry, 
and oaths, were kept to, and the great distinguishing tenet of 
an inward light was maintained, they said nothing as to shades 
of opinion on other points, which I believe were not nearly so 
much discussed at that time, as they are at the present day. 



71 

Let me allude to a part of your letter, where you speak of 
the ' creeds and dogmas' of Friends in these countries. True, 
they have them abundantly ; but are not your creeds and dog- 
mas equally entitled to the name 1 Is there less of a tradi- 
tional holding of points of belief amongst your Friends, than 
amongst the orthodox in America] Less of a bowing to 
church influence in matters of opinion or practice! I would 
suppose they are both pretty much the same ; that the sub- 
stantial difference between the two sects, was on some tenets 
or points which neither party could be sure of, and which, of 
course, they might dispute about until doomsday without com- 
ing to a decision. Both sides (I have heard) are, as a body, 
opposed to the abolitionists; both are imbued with the preju- 
dice against color ; both are hostile to their members' joining 
in philanthropic etTorts, with people of other societies. Now, 
I think both are narrow, and exclusive, and mistaken in all 
these things, and come short when judged by the true stand- 
ard, their fruits ; and this being the case, I make little account 
of the difference of their views on speculative questions. If I 
know myself, I have not the shadow of a preference for the 
orthodox, over the heterodox party, as such." 

In company with our kind friend, John Murray, 
we went to Paisley, and visited several of the large 
shawl manufacturing establishments, which is the 
principal business of the place. Thence to Bowling, 
on the Clyde, the residence of our valued friend, with 
whom we passed a pleasant day ; the liberal and kind 
feeling manifested by this individual was grateful to 
us, and will be long remembered. 

From Glasgow we went to New Lanark, the ma- 
nufacturing establishment founded by Robert Owen, 
and now principally owned by a few Friends, residing 
in London. Things appeared to be in good order 
and well conducted. 

When the coach came to the door, in which we 



12 

had taken seats for Edinburgh, a crowd of men, wo- 
men, and children collected around it. On inquiring 
the cause, we were told that three men, convicted of 
stealing sheep, were to go in the same conveyance, 
to be shipped to Botany Ba}^, under sentence of trans- 
portation for seven years, and their friends and fami- 
lies had com.e to take leave of them. The wailings 
of their wives, and the cries of their children were 
heart-rending. 

Our valued friends, George Combe and wife, gave 
us an invitation to spend some days at their residence, 
Gorgie Cottage, near Edinburgh, saying that we 
should find theirs " to be a temperance house when 
by themselves." We passed two days with them, 
taking tea one evening at the house of their brother, 
Dr. Andrew Combe, who is well known in Europe 
and this country, as the author of several valuable 
works on Physiology, &c. The time spent in the 
interesting society of these highly intellectual indi- 
viduals, was a season of great gratification and en- 
joyment, and we recur to it, as among the most 
pleasing incidents of our visit.* 

* George Combe has recently published " Notes on the 
United States," during his visit to this country, which con- 
tains much that is instructive and interesting. His observa- 
tions generally appear to be correct and just ; but in his notice 
of the Society of Friends, and its division into two parties, he 
has fallen into an error as to the relative number of the now 
two societies, as well as in saying " that a large section of the 
Quakers of Pennsylvania became Unitarians under the influ- 
ence of Elias Hicks." When the fact is, that we preferred the 
old standard of simple obedience to the light of Christ within, 
as the ground of salvation, to the creed of Orthodoxy, which 



73 

At Edinburgh we took coach for New Castle, 
stopping at Meh'ose, to view the ruins of Melrose and 
Dryburgh Abbeys, and to visit Abbotsford, familiarly 
known as the residence of the late Walter Scott. In 
this ride we met with a slaveholder, from the State 
of Georgia, who at first seemed indisposed to con- 
verse on the subject of their oppressive system ; say- 
ing that the pleasure of a recent day's ride in Ireland 
had been spoiled by two young Irishmen pressing 
that topic upon him. He attempted, however, to 
compare the condition of the laborers of that country 
with that of our slaves, as favorable to the latter. 
But finding that we also were from the United States, 
and had some knowledge of the " peculiar institu- 
tion," and of the unparalleled wrongs and suffer- 
ings to which one-sixth portion of our fellow citizens 
are subjected, he ceased to urge that point, and after- 
wards talked more freely respecting our slavery, as 
well as on other subjects. In visiting the above men- 
tioned places, he attached himself to our party, leav- 
ing a young man from Baltimore, who was with 
him, to take care of himself. 

The ridge of land that divides Scotland and Eng- 
land, is a Heath or Moor, about ten miles in width. 
Very few houses are to be seen, but many herds of 
cattle and flocks of sheep, each attended by a shepherd, 
wrapped in his plaid, accompanied by his faithful 

was attempted to be fastened on ns by some individuals in this 
country, aided by English Friends who visited x\nierica at that 
time. This effort to bind the conscience was successful in 
Great Britain ; not so with us, and hence the separation. 

7 



74 

dog, are scattered over the hills, which are entirely di- 
vested of trees. 

New Castle upon Tyne, famous for its extensive 
traffic in coal, contains about sixty thousand inhabit- 
ants. The town has been much improved within a 
few years, by the erection of a large number of hand- 
some buildings, but the marks of the principal busi- 
ness of the place, are every where to be seen. The 
market occupies a square of ground ; the fronts on 
each street are stores, with openings to the interior 
of the square, which is conveniently arranged. We 
walked through it on the evening of Seventh-day, 
when meats and vegetables, as well as many other 
articles were exposed for sale, and a throng of custo- 
mers making their purchases, as busily as with us on 
a market morning. This custom of holding market 
on the last evening of the week, we observed to be 
general in the towns we visited. We rode to Tyne- 
mouth, a village on the German Ocean, to visit Har- 
riet Martineau, who was an invalid, and staying 
there for the benefit of sea air. Several hours soon 
passed away in agreeable conversation, and we were 
pleased to have this opportunity of renewing an ac- 
quaintance formed while she was in this country. 

After we arrived in Liverpool, my wife received 
a note from her, from which the following is an ex- 
tract : 

"I felt hardly as if I knew what I was about that morning, 
but I was very happy, and I find that I remember every look 
and Avord. I did not make all the use I might of the opportu- 
nity ; but when are we ever wise enough to do it ? I do not 
think we shall ever meet again in this world, and I believe that 



75 

was in your mind when you said farewell. I feel that I have 
derived somewhat, from my intercourse with you that will 
never die, and I am thankful that we have been permitted to 
meet. You will tell the Furnesses where and how you found 
nie. Tell them of my cheerful room, and fine view of down 
and sea. I wish my friends would suffer for me no more than 
I do for myself. I hope you have yet many years of activity 
and enjoyment before you. My heart will ever be in your 
cause, and my love with yourself." 

While we were in London attending the Conven- 
tion, a letter was received from her, in which she 

says : 

<' I cannot be satisfied without sending you a line of love 
and sympathy. I think much of you, amidst your present 
trials, and much indeed have I thought of you and your cause 
since we parted. May God strengthen and comfort you. 

«' It is a comfort to me, that two of my best friends, Mrs. 
Reid and Julia Smith, are there to look upon you with eyes of 
love. I hear of you from them, for, busy as they are, they re- 
member me from day to day, and make me a partaker of your 
proceedings. If you and Mr. Mott should be coming this way, 
how joyful it would make me to see you. I am too unwell 
to offer more than a few hours a day of intercourse with any 
one ; but love from my heart I do offer you. 

" At some leisure hour, if you cannot come, will you write 
me a few words about the Furnesses ; I rarely hear of them. 
If you can tell me of their health and welfare, and above all of 
their having been roused to action in your great cause, it will 
be welcome news. I long to see pure and devout hearts like 
theirs, engaged for the slave. Dear friend, it is doubtless a 
disappointment to us both that we have not met ; but if we 
cannot do so, we can, I hope, bear it cheerfully. Though ill, 
I suffer little. I should suffer greatly if I thought my friends 
were uneasy for me. Yet I cannot but grieve for you, in the 
heart sickness which you must have experienced this last week. 
We must trust that the spirit of Christ will in time enlarge 
the hearts of those who claim his name, that the whites as 
well as the blacks will in time be free." 



76 

The Scots are an energetic people, and were never 
conquered by the Enghsh in the wars that deluged 
both countries for so many years with blood. The 
treaty of settlement placed the king of Scotland on 
the throne of England, from which cause the hostile 
feeling was allayed, and they have become much 
more as one people than the English and Irish. The 
laws that govern Scotland are enacted by the Parlia- 
ment of the United Kingdom, but I was told no law 
had ever been passed, against the wishes of a ma- 
jority of the members of Parliament from Scotland, 
or any law refused to be passed that was desired by 
a like majority ; so that in fact they make their own 
laws. Not so with poor Ireland ; she was conquered 
and subdued, and the Parliament impose on her such 
laws and restrictions as is apprehended will promote 
English interest, or gratify English avarice. Foreign 
flour, and some other articles that are allowed to be 
imported into England and Scotland on the payment 
of duty, are prohibited from being imported into Ire- 
land on any terms. 

The appearance of the low land of Scotland is 
similar to Pennsylvania, in the size of the fields, their 
division in many places by stone walls for fences, in- 
stead of hedges as in England, or ditches as in Ire- 
land. They have a breed of black cattle, and sheep 
with black faces, which are said to be much belter 
adapted to their climate and mountains than the 
larger animals of England. They are an industrious 
people, and plenty seemed to abound. The cottages 
are generally whitewashed, and, compared with the 



77 

cabins of Ireland, are clean and comfortable ; much 
less appearance of poverty, and but few beggars. 
The women and girls of the same class, as in Eng- 
land or Ireland, are commonly seen barefooted, and 
often carrying heavy burdens, while the men, ap- 
parently their husbands and brothers, walk by their 
sides, with shoes on, and nothing to carry but them- 
selves, which, in very many instances, was as much 
as they could do, for the numerous licensed dram- 
shops in the towns and country shov/ the great de- 
mand for strong and intoxicating drinks. Far worse, 
in this respect than in " Father Mathew's" land, or 
"O'Connell's Isle." O'Connell gives his influence to 
the Temperance cause, and aids in its promotion by 
attending the meetings, and raising his voice in its 
favor. He almost totally abstains himself, and 
would, it is said, sign the pledge, were it not that it 
might subject the cause to the charge of being made 
a political scheme. 

Women work in the fields abundantly, and in some 
respects appear to do more than their share of labor. 
Custom, and stern necessity, doubtless, induces this ; 
still, unlike our slaves, it is in one sense voluntary. 
The light of knowledge is not by penalty denied 
them, but is rather liberally proffered ; they have free 
locomotion, and have no master, nor fetters, and 
work more for themselves, than do our poor captives; 
neither are they followed by a cruel driver with his 
blood-stained lash. And though they receive little 
for the sustenance of the outer man, yet it is much 
more than it costs the Georgia planter to feed and 



78 

clothe his human cattle. It is not, after examina- 
tion into the condition of the laboring population in 
Great Britain, that I hate oppression and its direful 
effects less, but that T hate slavery, and love liberty 
more. I desire that our more than ever beloved coun- 
try, may speedily do justice, by giving deliverance to 
her bondmen ; and that by cultivating the principles 
of justice and mercy, and training her children in 
these virtues — appealing to " that little corner of the 
human heart vt^hich has not yet fallen," she may pre- 
vent, by wise legislation, the evils, religious, social, 
and political, under which older countries are 
groaning. 

From New Castle we went to Sheffield, where cut- 
lery of all kinds is the staple manufacture and business. 
Thence to Leeds, which is the principal place for 
cloth and other articles, manufactured of wool. The 
cloth hall is a building extending round a hollow 
square, about three hundred feet long, by one hun- 
dred and fifty feet wide. Each manufacturer has his 
stand, and exposes his cloths for sale two days in a 
week, but only one hour of each market day, at the 
expiration of which time a bell is rung, and no one 
can buy or sell a piece of goods afterwards, without 
violating the rules of the association, for which they 
are subjected to a fine. When I visited the hall, the 
market hour had just expired; it had been a dull 
day, and many hundred pieces remained unsold. 
Several persons whom I met there, on learning I was 
from the United States, inquired with apparent inte- 
rest and anxiety, as to the probability of a revival of 




79 

a demand for goods with us, and what effect the re- 
peal of their corn laws would have on the trade with 
this country. The high duties imposed in England 
upon foreign grain, for the purpose of enabling the 
agriculturist to pay heavy rents and taxes, to support 
the nobility in luxury and extravagance, is much 
complained of by the laborers and operatives, who 
begin to see that the high prices they are obliged to 
pay for the necessaries of life is unjust and oppres- 
sive ; and very many of the middle class in society 
are coming to understand, that these duties are the 
result of selfishness, and do not, in the end, promote 
the comfort or interest of the people at large. 

The high cultivation of the soil in England, fully 
equalled my expectation ; and the neatness and re- 
gularity with which the work is performed, adds 
much to the beauty of the country. The ground, in 
being prepared for sowing grain, is ploughed in 
ridges, of about ten feet wide, elevated in the centre 
from nine to twelve inches, sloping each way in a 
circular form. 

Vegetation generally was fresh and vigorous, but 
it appeared to me that it was of a paler green than it 
is in America ; the difference, if there be any, I sup- 
pose may be occasioned by our clearer atmosphere, 
and brighter shining of the sun. 

Their rail roads are made much better than they 
are in this country, having double tracks. The sides 
of the cuts, and the slopes of the embankments, are 
of a regular and even form, and covered with grass. 
The bridges across the streams of water or turnpikes 



80 

or other roads are built of brick and arched. All 
the turnpike roads go under or over the rail road, 
and the common, or by-roads crossing the rail roads, 
have gates at each side, which are kept shut, and a 
man stationed to attend upon them when any vehicle 
is about to pass. On the rail road from London to 
Birmino;ham, a distance of one hundred and ten 
miles, there are six tunnels, some of them of consi- 
derable length ; this road cost nearly fifty thousand 
pounds sterling per mile. 

The turnpike roads are hard and smooth, and al- 
ways kept in order by immediately repairing any 
place that is worn or worked ; they are frequently 
scraped with a wooden scraper after a rain, which takes 
off the dirt that would become dust when dry. Women 
and children are employed in collecting the manure 
that falls on the roads. The stage coaches are con- 
structed so as to carry four passengers inside, and 
twelve outside, and most of the baggage on the top ; 
thus loaded they travel on some of the roads at the 
rate often miles an hour, with only two horses, with 
more ease than they would on our roads with four 
horses. 

No carriage of any kind is allowed to be kept for 
hire, without the owner first obtaining a license, and 
the payment of a monthly tax, which is in propor- 
tion to the distance the carriage goes, and the num- 
ber of horses attached to it at one time. Stage coaches 
must keep on the road for which they are licensed, 
and run between fixed places. Omnibuses in the 
cities cannot deviate from the streets for which the 



m^'- 



81 

license is granted, or go beyond defined points; if 
they do, an additional tax is imposed for every devia- 
tion. Cabs, in London, pay five pounds for a license, 
and a monthly tax of two pounds ten shillings, which 
gives them the privilege of going to any place within 
seven miles from the Post Office ; if they go beyond 
that distance, a special license must be obtained. 

This is one of the many means to which the Eng- 
lish government resorts, to raise a revenue of about 
fifty millions sterling annually, equal to two hundred 
and forty millions of dollars. But worse than all, is 
the forced maintenance of an ecclesiastical establish- 
ment. The inhabitants of the United Kingdom are 
constrained to contribute for the support of a system 
of religion, which a large portion of them do not 
unite with or approve. This is especially the case 
with the Irish people, seven out of eight of whom are 
professors of the Catholic religion, and yet are ob- 
liged by law to pay tithes for the support of a creed 
that they believe to be erroneous, and which, from 
the distraints made upon them, and the suffering 
thereby brought on their families, they have abun- 
dant reason to know and to feel is not for the pur- 
pose of sustaining and inculcating the pure precepts 
and doctrines of Christianity, but for the promulga- 
tion of speculative opinions, and the maintenance of 
a proud and tyrannical priesthood. A system of re- 
ligion established by law, and the involuntary sup- 
port of a ministry, is cause of great uneasiness and 
dissatisfaction ; the advantages and disadvantages 



82 ' 

are much discussed, and the result will doubtless be 
a removal of this unjust and oppressive burden. 

The dwellings and barns of the agriculturists in 
England, are generally much smaller than they are 
in the older parts of the United States, and do not 
possess an equal appearance of comfort and good 
living. It is common to see the house and barn un- 
der the same roof; the family occupying one end of 
the building, and their horses and cattle the other. 
The hay and grain is mostly put up in stacks, which 
are formed with great care, and with a neatness and 
symmetry that I had not before seen. 

A large portion of the farms are rented. The 
ownership of the soil being in the nobility and gentry 
of the country, who hold it by hereditary title of en- 
tailment, without the legal power to dispose of it in 
fee, they are dependent upon the rents of the land 
for their income, which their expenditures on them- 
selves, and for their own gratification, in most cases 
absorb. Hence they have not the means to improve 
their estates in a way to add to the comfort of the 
farmer. On the other hand, the high rent the far- 
mer has to pay, and taxes of various kinds, and tithes, 
require great industry and the strictest economy, to 
enable him to meet these demands ; so that he has 
nothing left to make improvements. The rents vary 
from thirty shillings to three pounds per acre, per 
annum, and small tracts of a few acres for vegetable 
gardens, in the neighborhood of the large cities and 
towns, command a rent of from five to ten pounds. 

The Chartists, to whom 1 have incidentally alluded. 



83 

are a numerous body, composed mostly of the opera- 
tives and laboring class. They are coming to under- 
stand, that they have long been deprived of the en- 
joyment of their inalienable rights as men, and have 
been compelled, as they still are, to toil more for the 
benefit of others than for themselves. They have, 
until of latter time, depended on some of the great 
men who have professed to be their champions, for 
the redress of their wrongs. But finding little or no- 
thing has been done for their relief, they are forming 
associations for the purpose of concentrating their 
force, and thus increasing their influence, which is 
beginning to be felt. They demand a reform in the 
following particulars, which are called the "^ve 
points of Chartism.'''' Universal suffrage ,* vote by 
ballot ; annual parliaments ; payment of members ; 
no property qualification. It will be seen that if those 
rights are granted, hereditary nobility, and the un- 
holy connexion of Church and State will be demolish- 
ed, and thus the principal causes of the oppression 
under which the people are now suffering removed. 
The nobles, bishops, and priests will struggle hard to 
retain their position, but it appears to me the word 
has gone forth, and a change will be effected. 

We reached Liverpool on the 24th of Eighth 
month, and sailed from thence on the morning of the 
26th, in the packet ship Patrick Henry, Captain J. 
C. Delano. We had twelve cabin, and one hundred 
and forty steerage passengers, many of the latter, re- 
spectable, intelligent persons, coming to the United 
States to settle. The weather was generally pleasant. 






84 

with a smooth sea, and not much sea-sickness. Meet- 
ings were held on the deck of the ship on First-days. 
Our captain was a remarkably active man, attentive 
to his duties, and to the comfort of his passengers 
and crew. He had a large and well selected library 
on board, which he was fond of using himself, and 
which contributed much to the gratification of his 
passengers, who had free access to his books. When 
within about one hundred miles of the American 
coast, many birds were seen flying about the ship, 
probably blown off by a strong wind; some alighted, 
several of which were caught. 

After a passage of twenty-nine days we arrived at 
New York, glad once more to reach our native land, 
and far better satisfied with its customs, condition, 
institutions, and laws, (slavery excepted,) than with 
those of the mother country. Our blue sky, bright 
shining sun, and clear atmosphere, are in striking 
contrast with the clouds, mists, and frequent rains 
of the British Isles, and we felt no desire to change 
our residence ; yet we were well compensated for the 
voyage, in the opportunity it afforded to observe the 
manners and usages of other nations, and, above all, 
in the restoration of the health of my wife, the hope 
of which was one object of the journey. 



LB D '0 



\ . 



/ 



THREE MONTHS 



IN 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



BY 



JAMES MOTT. 



PHILADELPHIA: 

J. Miller M'Kim, No. 31 North Fifth street. 
1841. 



/ 



^1 



